Mentors as Drive Coaches?

[Billfred]

I'm not going to comment on anyone else's setup, but here's where 2815 is coming from:

-Since day one, we've had adult coaches. In our four years, one was a USC graduate student, two were undergraduate students, and one was a professional mentor (yours truly). Each of our regional championships was won with a different coach behind the glass.
-Most of our mentors aren't that much older than the kids they mentor. I see them develop behind the glass almost as rapidly as the kids.
-I've seen some rather overbearing coaches. An adult mentor is usually better equipped to block them in my estimation. (A year of college hardens you up.)
-Despite the age part, our coaches usually have their acts together marginally better than the students. In an event where a few seconds' poor planning can result in a bypass (or worse), we view this as a good thing.
-It (generally) serves to reinforce the partnership between USC and Richland One.
-At no point have we said "We're -never- going to put in a student coach". We're open to it if the right situation came along...but we don't see it happening soon.