Dre Bly reveals how he got into coaching, connection to North Carolina staff

North Carolina cornerbacks coach Dre Bly was a standout corner for the Tar Heels in the late 90s. The All-American and College Football Hall of Famer played 11 seasons in the NFL before transitioning into coaching. In a recent press conference, he discussed how his ties to his alma mater got him in the position he’s in today.

“So I reached out to coach Brown, and obviously he has a lot of relationships, and had a chance to come here when I was contemplating if this was the path I wanted to take,” Bly said. “I came in and had the chance to meet with Chiz [Gene Chizik] and he allowed me to opportunity to shadow Charlton [Warren]for a whole spring.”

Bly described Warren as very detailed and intelligent, and harped on how his experience with other great coaches helped create a foundation for his own coaching career. Bly also mentioned how his experiences working under current Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Carolina Panthers coach Steve Wilks formed him into the coach he currently is today.

“I’ve been able to take different stuff from different guys, Steve Wilks was a guy that I met with as well,” Bly said. “Taking different parts from different guys and forming who you are, and that’s what I’ve been able to do since I started this coaching journey and it’s been pretty cool.”

Dre Bly’s has already proven to be a strong recruiter, plus his combination of playing experience and willingness to learn should continue to impact the Tar Heels’ success this upcoming season strongly.

“I think that’s the thing. I’m not a guy who feels like they know it all, I’m willing to learn from people and I’m always trying to get better,” Bly said.

Dre Bly on UNC and impact of NIL

Bly is a relationship-driven coach. Especially on the recruiting trail. But with changes over the last few years in the transfer and NIL world, that method of recruiting won’t get the job done by itself. Even he would admit, if NIL existed in his day, he would have loved to take advantage. Now, it’s part of the nature of the game.

Bly still believes the relational aspect of recruiting is vital to winning kids. After all, schools across the country can offer NIL deals. So standing out as a coach from a personal perspective is still extremely important to winning recruiting battles. But money does talk. At a recent press conference, Bly explained how he and the North Carolina staff have balanced the new NIL opportunities with old-school, relational recruiting tactics.

Here were some of his comments regarding the issue:

“It makes it tough. The NIL — I just imagine if I had NIL, you know. I’m like…WOW. I was talking about that with Brian Simmons and Greg [Ellis]. Like dang, we too old, man. Like it came too late. But it makes it tough. I think relationships become more important, right. Especially, you know, all that we represent here at the University of North Carolina. I think that’s why we’ve been able to land some of the guys that we have been able to land. Because the relationships are so strong.”

On3’s Alex Weber contributed to this article