Grant Fisher leaving Bowerman

Now this one is a shock. I had just checked the Cooper Teare is leaving BTC thread a few minutes ago and there was once again nothing there to confirm or disconfirm it. So, I thought this thread was false. Now that is a guy who keeps things close to the vest. Good luck to him. 7:25/12:46/26:33 is no joke with BTC.

Alright, so lets talk options. In no particular order:

1. Begin training under Mike Smith. I don't think anyone could argue that Mike Smith is one of top 3 best coaches in the US right now if not the best. His group has been very successful (Kincaid top American in 10K at Budapest, Luis 4th in 5K), and Grant knows Kincaid. Probably the most logical choice, since he'd get to keep his Nike contract and theoretically train anywhere he likes outside of occasional stints in Flag.

2. Sign with On and join OAC. On would have to be throwing a lot of weight around to pull the rug out from under Nike, but no other brand is putting that kind of money into sponsorships and no other established group has the pedigree of OAC. Ritzenhein likely has the most similar coaching style to Jerry, so it wouldn't be a huge transition training-wise. But again, very dependent on sponsor dollars.

3. Go bush league. Very Nice TC, Ben Thomas' group, or something of the like. Good groups in their own right, so calling them "bush league" might be harsh but they're not fully sponsored groups. This would also probably let him keep his Nike contract but again this option probably isn't quite as "pro" as he'd like to be. An athlete of his caliber needs structure and support that these groups don't have.

4. Wild card: NN Running Team. Someone else mentioned this but it wouldn't be completely unprecedented. Marc Scott joined NN after leaving Bowerman himself. They've got the money, they've got the structure, and they've got the swoosh. Maybe a more likely option than it seems.

So which will it be??

Bowerman was the one chance to make USA distance great again with the facilities and unlimited support from Nike. It looks to be destroyed beyond repair. The promise of Derrrick, Jager, Ahmed, Solinsky, Teg, Lomong and German was so intoxicating back in the day.

Grant left because I added Justin Knight to the roster and Grant and Justin don't like each other. Grant gave me an ultimatum after Justin being added to the roster was announced, which was too late so he left.

I like the NN team idea. Maybe he wants to truly go all in living at altitude and being around athletes that match or exceed his talent

This is the only logical option for Fisher. Teare is likely considering this move as well. Alberto would have to be on as a “consultant” due to safe sport rules, and Brosnan can work as assistant/recruiting coordinator.

I thought this was an LRC April Fools article.

hasn't OAC very intentionally avoided guys competing for the same teams? They've committed to Klecker, I don't think Grant will go there.

And who said I was wrong about cooper leaving bowerman…

Grant is taking a job at Bain & Co.

Well they have said that and it’s allegedly what Woody was told when he inquired about joining.

That being said, Woody did not (and still doesn’t have, even though he has stepped it up with mike) evidence that he can compete at Worlds/Olympics. And Joe’s highest world place is 9th + he has never been in contention within the final 3-4 laps.

Is ON really gonna pass up someone who has placed in the top 5 in oly/worlds three times and currently holds 3 American Records if they show interest in joining? Because they are loyal to Joe Klecker? I guess Nuguse is their US Star but grant would only overlap with him over 3k which doesn’t matter for championships. Josette kinda clashes with both Sage and Alicia, but I guess that’s their second events ( Sage: 1. 800 2. 1500, Alicia: 1. 10k, 2. 5k, Josette: ?.1500 ? 5k)

I don’t know man. The talent and the world stage placement talk. He has run like the 6th (? Someone fact check me) 10k ever on the track.

* I personally think there is a way better chance Grant goes to Mike Smith with his Nike contract and all that, but the idea of a team turning down the best 5k/10k runner in the us right now seems questionable*

Is this true? Many people are unaware Grant continued his Stanford education and got a graduate degree in some kind of engineering sustainability management. I really hope this decision is based on running alone and not corporate career ambitions. There will always be time for that later

Klecker may have a say in the matter.

It all lines up that he is going to NNRunning. He posted, 'It's going to be a big change'. I don't think going to Mike Smith is a big change, instead it's more of what he's used to by training w/people he knows. NN on the other hand is known for their foreign runners so Grant would be training overseas (doubt he'll be remote like Marc Scott). He's a single guy who seems to be 100% invested on setting more American Records and what better group to do that then to train with international athletes.

OP is like a physic or a physician or something.

I wouldn't completely rule out Alberto. Imagine a group with Grant, Copper, Galen and Mo Ahmed.

Also wherever he is moving - will definitely be at altitude. Or at least spend most of his year up there.

Apparently he and Moh were not happy that they were stuck in Eugene all spring and were hoping that Florence 5k proved to Jerry they needed to go up to altitude.(they still ran 12:55/56, but were like 10th)

I also remember Grant saying that he seems to respond and adapt really well at altitude when he was running fast in 2022.

Cranny is leaving as well.

I’ve thought Woody’s success planted seeds of doubt for Grant, plus the move to Eugene, his coach now coaching a university team- it all makes sense. But I can only see him going to Flagstaff and that would only be after talking to Woody. They’re friends, Kinkaid is just a passive aggressive weirdo.
If not with Mike Smith then some euro-American mix since he seems to be a europhile. Why in the world was he pacing in Berlin?