I totally disagree with you and totally agree with Coach Smith. What’s easier: preparing Nico to face NCAA competition, or preparing Nico to face the likes of Jakob, Aregawi, Fisher, Kiplimo, Kejelcha, Barega, Kwemoi, et al?
It's significantly easier to do the latter.
Do you understand how coaching works? You get an understanding of physiology and then you give your athletes workouts to get them in amazing shape. It doesn't matter who you are racing. The goal is the same for every single runner- get in the very best possible shaep for race day.
Mike Smith's job isn't to get Nico to face the likes of anyone. His job is to get Nico in the best possible shape on a particular day - period.
That's easier to do as a pro coach as you don't have to do indoor NCAAs, outdoor conference, classes, etc. If you have a niggle, you can postpone it.
Did you even read the article? He talks very clearly about challenges such as travel, navigating the Olympic village, different languages. Etc Etc. it’s not JUST understanding physiology. It’s logistics and having multiple athletes at different world events possibly in different locations around the world. It’s not getting 24 kids on a plane to Oklahoma. this coupled with all the other points previous posters have given.
I totally disagree with you and totally agree with Coach Smith. What’s easier: preparing Nico to face NCAA competition, or preparing Nico to face the likes of Jakob, Aregawi, Fisher, Kiplimo, Kejelcha, Barega, Kwemoi, et al?
It's significantly easier to do the latter.
Do you understand how coaching works? You get an understanding of physiology and then you give your athletes workouts to get them in amazing shape. It doesn't matter who you are racing. The goal is the same for every single runner- get in the very best possible shaep for race day.
Mike Smith's job isn't to get Nico to face the likes of anyone. His job is to get Nico in the best possible shape on a particular day - period.
That's easier to do as a pro coach as you don't have to do indoor NCAAs, outdoor conference, classes, etc. If you have a niggle, you can postpone it.
no way as pros are way harder as if you're Nico you not running against some college kid who you will smoke your running against the best in the world as look at the 10k finals at the olympics in 2024 in paris as Nico ran SUPER fast under sub 27 but he was way back if that was college he would win or get close as he mostly won and sometimes didnt when he was in college.
also, pro is truly year round as you don't have thanksggiving break winter break spring break summer break as its year round as there are always races to run or workouts to run and no rules tellling you not to coach at certain times as their are in college as you can coach and run at ANY time of the year which makes it harder
Do you understand how coaching works? You get an understanding of physiology and then you give your athletes workouts to get them in amazing shape. It doesn't matter who you are racing. The goal is the same for every single runner- get in the very best possible shaep for race day.
Mike Smith's job isn't to get Nico to face the likes of anyone. His job is to get Nico in the best possible shape on a particular day - period.
That's easier to do as a pro coach as you don't have to do indoor NCAAs, outdoor conference, classes, etc. If you have a niggle, you can postpone it.
no way as pros are way harder as if you're Nico you not running against some college kid who you will smoke your running against the best in the world as look at the 10k finals at the olympics in 2024 in paris as Nico ran SUPER fast under sub 27 but he was way back if that was college he would win or get close as he mostly won and sometimes didnt when he was in college.
also, pro is truly year round as you don't have thanksggiving break winter break spring break summer break as its year round as there are always races to run or workouts to run and no rules tellling you not to coach at certain times as their are in college as you can coach and run at ANY time of the year which makes it harder
college has a lot of breaks and lots of rules pros have no breaks and no rules which may sound easier but its not its hard as that means you have more freedom to do what you want but with that comes more freedom to give you to fail as rules can be good can you imagine if a pro was allowed to drink and smoke all day as college kids aren't allowed to as those rules make them healthier which makes them faster on race day as pros don't have as many rules but that's not always for the best as sometimes its for the word
People saying that college is easier have no idea and have never experienced the grind of the NCAA. Aug. 1 until Christmas is nonstop.
The fall for Smith probably includes 5-6 meets (with travel flying out of Phoenix). Late fall/ December 5ks. 3-4 big recruiting weekends, parents, dinners, travel, tours etc.
Probably going to a few HS meets in person, maybe a few home visits. Minimum 10 recruiting calls a week (even if they are only 20 mins each it adds up)
Daily practice, managing 40 athletes each with their own needs and problems.
Also organizing their home meets, volunteers, officials. He may not do the grunt work but has to do the meetings. Expense reports, compliance, athletic department requirements. I could go on.
Managing a pro group in the fall? Athletes usually take a few weeks down/ off in sept. Then build base. Probably won’t leave flag. 3-4 hours a day practice with the athletes. Few hours on the phone with agents a week until December. Boom
no way as pros are way harder as if you're Nico you not running against some college kid who you will smoke your running against the best in the world as look at the 10k finals at the olympics in 2024 in paris as Nico ran SUPER fast under sub 27 but he was way back if that was college he would win or get close as he mostly won and sometimes didnt when he was in college.
also, pro is truly year round as you don't have thanksggiving break winter break spring break summer break as its year round as there are always races to run or workouts to run and no rules tellling you not to coach at certain times as their are in college as you can coach and run at ANY time of the year which makes it harder
college has a lot of breaks and lots of rules pros have no breaks and no rules which may sound easier but its not its hard as that means you have more freedom to do what you want but with that comes more freedom to give you to fail as rules can be good can you imagine if a pro was allowed to drink and smoke all day as college kids aren't allowed to as those rules make them healthier which makes them faster on race day as pros don't have as many rules but that's not always for the best as sometimes its for the word
when i was in college i had so many rules i hated it as i thought wow this is so many rules and I hate them as i can't wait until i graduate and i don't have all these rules well as they say care full what jew wish for as when i graduated i was super happy as a lot of my friends were as well but not all of them because they weren't ready to grow up but i aws ready to grow up as i had a good job rigth away working up the career but all the time at the time at the job and no rules outside of the job made it tough as i started to smoke cigarettes at clubs and vape at home with my roommates and sometiems vape at the clubs and we would drink at home and at the clubs and stay up all night at the clubs as training really hard became even harder from all the alcohol and smoking as its hard to train with that as it takes a while to recover as it took me a while to figure out how to make rules for myself as thats what college can be good not bad
People saying that college is easier have no idea and have never experienced the grind of the NCAA. Aug. 1 until Christmas is nonstop.
The fall for Smith probably includes 5-6 meets (with travel flying out of Phoenix). Late fall/ December 5ks. 3-4 big recruiting weekends, parents, dinners, travel, tours etc.
Probably going to a few HS meets in person, maybe a few home visits. Minimum 10 recruiting calls a week (even if they are only 20 mins each it adds up)
Daily practice, managing 40 athletes each with their own needs and problems.
Also organizing their home meets, volunteers, officials. He may not do the grunt work but has to do the meetings. Expense reports, compliance, athletic department requirements. I could go on.
Managing a pro group in the fall? Athletes usually take a few weeks down/ off in sept. Then build base. Probably won’t leave flag. 3-4 hours a day practice with the athletes. Few hours on the phone with agents a week until December. Boom
god i miss those days as class was easy as all i did was class run and sex with my girflriends on the team as they didn't know who each other was as one was a freshman and the other was a senior as the varsity and jv teams practiced and traveled separately as the freshman was actually varsity and the senior was actually jv if you can believe as i could as it happened
People saying that college is easier have no idea and have never experienced the grind of the NCAA. Aug. 1 until Christmas is nonstop.
The fall for Smith probably includes 5-6 meets (with travel flying out of Phoenix). Late fall/ December 5ks. 3-4 big recruiting weekends, parents, dinners, travel, tours etc.
Probably going to a few HS meets in person, maybe a few home visits. Minimum 10 recruiting calls a week (even if they are only 20 mins each it adds up)
Daily practice, managing 40 athletes each with their own needs and problems.
Also organizing their home meets, volunteers, officials. He may not do the grunt work but has to do the meetings. Expense reports, compliance, athletic department requirements. I could go on.
Managing a pro group in the fall? Athletes usually take a few weeks down/ off in sept. Then build base. Probably won’t leave flag. 3-4 hours a day practice with the athletes. Few hours on the phone with agents a week until December. Boom
I am sure very few people posting here can attest to this from personal experience but like above stated, I suspect the volume of stuff you have to deal with as the coach at the collegiate level is far more than the more focused stuff you do as a pro coach. College athletes can be mercurial as they are typically younger living away from home for the first time and conceivably being challenged academically and socially while being thrown into the deepest competition they've yet experienced. They almost certainly need more support from their coaches for everything from nutrition advice to basic life skills. I think it can be supremely rewarding at the end of the day if you are able to see your role defined in a more holistic manner, ie. helping kids transition to fully fledged adults who have learned to translate their passion into self-improvement, but that comes at the cost of having your life subsumed by the 'job'.
While I am sure pro coaches are just as invested in their athletes, the reality is these athletes should almost certainly have more basic life skills, better access to support (mental, nutritional, financial, etc), and have a much narrower focus in their life. You also can choose who you coach and vice-versa. So, in theory, they are there by their own free will and are invested in your coaching. A lot of college kids start off having full belief in their coaches lose it rapidly when they face setbacks or they don't improve as quickly as they think they should. Clearly, this hesitation makes the coaching dynamic challenging because you are trying to convince an increasingly stubborn individual to believe that your process will get results.
Moreover, in the article Mike Smith clearly states that "I’m constantly have meetings in my office, encouraging people to step toward the harder thing. And I think I could have stayed in college coaching a long time, and that’s for sure the easiest option for me. We’ve [had] a lot of success. I feel really comfortable in my position, and this is a whole new challenge for me, so trying to kind of take my own medicine as a coach of stepping toward what’s harder."
Which means he had become really proficient/efficient as a college coach and could ride it out for a long time but he needed a change to challenge himself. This doesn't mean the college coaching is easier than pro coaching it means that he wanted a change up to grow as a coach/person rather than sticking to a tough but familiar pace.