As the '15 NFL season approaches, the 49ers are preparing for "how to relate" to millennials, who make up a generation that has been "raised on smartphones and instant information," according to Kevin Clark of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The team has consulted with experts ranging from Stanford Univ. researchers to advertising execs to "learn how, exactly, the young brain works." As players arrived for voluntary workouts and minicamps this spring and summer, they "noticed sweeping changes designed to cater to how research shows millennials learn." That means making "concessions for people with shorter attention spans, a desire to multitask and ... a need to check their phones all the time." The 49ers turned a "typical meeting, which on some teams can go for as long as two hours, into 30-minute blocks, each followed by 10-minute breaks that allow players to do what young people do." The bulk of the changes -- from "enhanced digital playbooks to weekly briefings on social media -- have a common theme." Instead of the coaches "making millennials change, the coaches are changing to better work with the millennials, even if that means allowing some necessary evils." Another change involves "sending alerts to players’ calendars instead of a printed schedule." 49ers coach Jim Tomsula said, "We haven't handed out a piece of paper to a player this year and they love it." Tomsula said that he is "in a meeting a week learning about new apps and technologies that his players might be involved with" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/17).
