New kind of motivation required for today's student-athletes

John Blake, an associate head coach for Butch Davis' North Carolina Tar Heels, and one of America's elite recruiters, offered the following:

"When my players make a mistake or error in assignment, they're not down because they made an error; they're more disappointed because they feel they've let me down."

Experts say this sort of familial connection yields the most productive, long-term results. Few coaches, however, have tapped into this shift in culture and adjusted their coaching strategies accordingly. Blake continues, "If I'm ahead of any curve, so be it. For me, it's a core value; I cannot operate any other way."

Today's coaching also requires skills often associated with the business world, namely collecting the opinions of one's players, the people who work for you. Players aren't drones who jump through hoops. Gen-Y players often need to know how they're doing. You need to ask them how they feel about their own development.

As I told one young man recently, never be ashamed to ask for advice and counsel. Some of you who work in large corporations know exactly what this means. The contract between employer and employees is pragmatic at best. The same is true for student-athletes at major colleges. There are no real promises on either side. That four-year "full ride" in reality is a series of one-year, renewable contracts.

We have an abundance of talented young men -- bigger, faster, smarter -- who want to play the game, not ride a bench. That's why, as I said, today's players are drawn to teams where they can play, to contribute.

Why go to USC and sit it out when you can go to a second-tier school and make your mark? Ultimately, a coach's challenge is to use this talent to its maximum advantage. That means patterning schemes to fit players.

But more than any time in the game, it means connecting with your players, motivating them and building a team. Gen Y to the rescue.