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As a mentor coach (and former driver), I strongly disagree. At 4464, we've decided on mentor coaching precisely to lessen the stress on the students; if a match goes poorly, it's the coach who takes the criticism, not the drivers. We do not feel that it is best to have a student in that position.
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Good point. We had a specific instance of our freshman driver getting picked on by one of his friends because he "lost the match". Keep in mind, we're a young team and this was more out of ignorance by the student than malice. Even though, in any instance of criticism by the team due to driving or strategy issues... I would take the blame for inability to implement strategy, or the lack of practice time given to our drive team.
This year, because most of the driving was done by a single driver (the freshman), we let our senior act as a "Jr. Coach", whereas I was basically there for support a few feet behind. He was quite a bit more vocal than me, and we actually had a few instances where I needed to tone him down where he was a bit too aggressive when speaking to volunteers or other teams. Amazing kid, but a lot more emotionally invested in the win as a senior that is graduating, than me... who was more concerned with development of driver and HP as well as projecting a positive image of our team.
Once again, there is no right answer to this question. I think we all agree on what behaviors are ideal in this situation, and each team can work however they choose to achieve it. For all the other mentors out there observing this (including myself), let's not be passive. Don't just make a blacklist of teams quietly on the side, which is basically passive aggressive... be big enough to go talk to that coach afterwards. You don't have to be a jerk back, but let them know that in their passion for (winning, getting the ref's attention, keeping the rookie from doing auto, etc) you think they really hurt a student's feelings. Encourage them to apologize or to watch for it in the future.
99.9999% of FIRST'ers are good people with good intentions that make mistakes. Maybe they won't do the right thing, but at least you can sleep better at night.