Dre Bly discusses most fulfilling aspect of coaching, relationship with players

For North Carolina cornerbacks coach Dre Bly, coaching young men is about far more than simply winning games or landing big recruits. Even recruits Bly doesn’t land, he holds no hard feelings and wishes all of the kids he comes in contact with nothing but success. Whether that’s in baby blue or at another school altogether.

In that way, Bly revealed that coaching is based so much on relationships nowadays. A change from when he was a player back in the 1990’s. At a recent press conference, Bly opened up about how important the relationship aspect is to him on the coaching side. Take a look at his comments below:

“I don’t know if I was as high maintenance as they guys are today. But it’s pretty cool. The biggest part with me — separate from these other guys — [I’m] very relational. I really care less if a kid come to Carolina. I just want the kid to make it out of the neighborhood. That’s the most important thing for me is these kids having the chance to live the dream, to fulfill their childhood dream. And so, at the end of the day, if I can get a kid off the street into a school, I’ve done better. He gonna be part of my brotherhood whether [he’s] a Tar Heel or not. That’s the way I look at it.”

Dre Bly isn’t going to be petty. He won’t terminate his relationship with a player just because they picked another school. Sure, the two teams may battle on the field, but in the sport of football, Bly is simply trying to see as many kids as possible change their lives for the better. He thinks that mindset is an advantage as a coach in this day and age.

“So, I think when people see that and see my dilemma or my approach, they vibe with me. And it’s like we one of the boys and so that’s pretty much how it is with me. So I think that’s the difference now from when it was before. We got to be a little more relational. And I think Coach [Mack] Brown and the staff we have — we’re very relational. We’ve done a good job establishing good relationships with the kids and the parents. That’s why we we’ve been doing a very good job in recruiting.”

That relationship-first approach is why Bly believes he and the North Carolina staff have won big on the recruiting trail.