If Nico truly wants to be the best ever, there’s a real argument that training alongside Parker and the Nike core might actually be helping them more than it helps him. The system is built to elevate the Nike guys, not to maximize Nico’s ceiling as an Adidas athlete. In that setup, Nico risks becoming the perfect training partner pushing Parker and the rest to higher levels while his own long term peak isn’t the true priority. Yesterday was glimpses of that.
How do you figure it favors the Nike guys at Nico’s expense?
People defending Nico are missing the point, the criticism is actually coming from people who think he’s America’s next great distance talent and want him to succeed. That’s exactly why this situation is so crazy to see. Training in a Nike-based group does not benefit Nico one bit, it benefits the Nike athletes more than it benefits him. Mike Smith is not paid to make Nico Young great, he’s paid to make Nike athletes great. That’s just reality. So when Parker beats Nico, the Nike camp is thrilled. There is literally no one in that setup whose job depends on Nico outperforming Parker. Mike Smith made the choice to leave NAU and coach Nike pros, and that’s completely fine, but Nico now needs to make a hard decision about what’s best for his career. If he stays, he’s going to keep getting sharpened into a better version of Parker, Strand, and whoever the next Nike guy is, instead of being built to beat them. Mike has already shown that his post NAU guys can go on to be world champions elsewhere. Nico needs to do the same. It’ll be hard, but if he stays, this pattern isn’t changing. I’m not this obsessed Nico fan, but smarter enough to see the writing on the wall.
What pattern? Mike Smith started his official duties as Nike Swoosh TC Flagstaff Coach on July 1. Since that time, this is what Nico has done:
Won the 10k at the US Championships
Finished 3rd in the 5k at the US Championships to make the US World Championship team; his first time making a US team in that event
Finished 5th in the 10k and 6th in the 5k at the World Championships, a big improvement over his 12th place finish in the 10k at the Olympics
Overcame a short turnaround from Tokyo to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships
Looks like things are going well to me!
Also: Prior to starting the Nike job, Smith spent the entire 2024-2025 academic year coaching Nico while employed as the head coach at NAU. Nico was no longer on the NAU team, so Smith had to coach him on the side.
Despite Smith's full-time job requiring him to be focused primarily on his NAU athletes, Nico was still able to thrive. He ran a PB 3:50 mile, ran a PB 12:51 indoors, won the 3k at GST Philadelphia, then won the 5k at the DL Oslo meet in an outdoor US record of 12:45.
Based on all of Nico's races this year, I'd say Smith and Nico have shown they can get great results working together even if coaching Nico isn't in Smith's full-time job description.
People defending Nico are missing the point, the criticism is actually coming from people who think he’s America’s next great distance talent and want him to succeed. That’s exactly why this situation is so crazy to see. Training in a Nike-based group does not benefit Nico one bit, it benefits the Nike athletes more than it benefits him. Mike Smith is not paid to make Nico Young great, he’s paid to make Nike athletes great. That’s just reality. So when Parker beats Nico, the Nike camp is thrilled. There is literally no one in that setup whose job depends on Nico outperforming Parker. Mike Smith made the choice to leave NAU and coach Nike pros, and that’s completely fine, but Nico now needs to make a hard decision about what’s best for his career. If he stays, he’s going to keep getting sharpened into a better version of Parker, Strand, and whoever the next Nike guy is, instead of being built to beat them. Mike has already shown that his post NAU guys can go on to be world champions elsewhere. Nico needs to do the same. It’ll be hard, but if he stays, this pattern isn’t changing. I’m not this obsessed Nico fan, but smarter enough to see the writing on the wall.
What pattern? Mike Smith started his official duties as Nike Swoosh TC Flagstaff Coach on July 1. Since that time, this is what Nico has done:
Won the 10k at the US Championships
Finished 3rd in the 5k at the US Championships to make the US World Championship team; his first time making a US team in that event
Finished 5th in the 10k and 6th in the 5k at the World Championships, a big improvement over his 12th place finish in the 10k at the Olympics
Overcame a short turnaround from Tokyo to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships
Looks like things are going well to me!
Also: Prior to starting the Nike job, Smith spent the entire 2024-2025 academic year coaching Nico while employed as the head coach at NAU. Nico was no longer on the NAU team, so Smith had to coach him on the side.
Despite Smith's full-time job requiring him to be focused primarily on his NAU athletes, Nico was still able to thrive. He ran a PB 3:50 mile, ran a PB 12:51 indoors, won the 3k at GST Philadelphia, then won the 5k at the DL Oslo meet in an outdoor US record of 12:45.
Based on all of Nico's races this year, I'd say Smith and Nico have shown they can get great results working together even if coaching Nico isn't in Smith's full-time job description.
You’re listing results that all happened before the current situation even existed. Those US titles, Worlds finishes, indoor PBs, and the Oslo win were all before Nico was fully integrated into a daily training setup with Nike contracted athletes under a Nike paid coach. The actual pattern people are pointing to starts this fall after he began training regularly with those guys and now the same Nike athletes he’s supposed to be “training with” are beating him head to head. That’s the issue. And this thread exists because people are Nico fans who want to see him succeed, not because they want to tear him down. It’s the opposite. This isn’t about whether Smith once coached him to big results, it’s about the reality that his incentives now belong to Nike athletes, and when you put an Adidas star inside a Nike machine, the competitive priorities don’t magically stay neutral.
People defending Nico are missing the point, the criticism is actually coming from people who think he’s America’s next great distance talent and want him to succeed. That’s exactly why this situation is so crazy to see. Training in a Nike-based group does not benefit Nico one bit, it benefits the Nike athletes more than it benefits him. Mike Smith is not paid to make Nico Young great, he’s paid to make Nike athletes great. That’s just reality. So when Parker beats Nico, the Nike camp is thrilled. There is literally no one in that setup whose job depends on Nico outperforming Parker. Mike Smith made the choice to leave NAU and coach Nike pros, and that’s completely fine, but Nico now needs to make a hard decision about what’s best for his career. If he stays, he’s going to keep getting sharpened into a better version of Parker, Strand, and whoever the next Nike guy is, instead of being built to beat them. Mike has already shown that his post NAU guys can go on to be world champions elsewhere. Nico needs to do the same. It’ll be hard, but if he stays, this pattern isn’t changing. I’m not this obsessed Nico fan, but smarter enough to see the writing on the wall.
What pattern? Mike Smith started his official duties as Nike Swoosh TC Flagstaff Coach on July 1. Since that time, this is what Nico has done:
Won the 10k at the US Championships
Finished 3rd in the 5k at the US Championships to make the US World Championship team; his first time making a US team in that event
Finished 5th in the 10k and 6th in the 5k at the World Championships, a big improvement over his 12th place finish in the 10k at the Olympics
Overcame a short turnaround from Tokyo to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships
Looks like things are going well to me!
Also: Prior to starting the Nike job, Smith spent the entire 2024-2025 academic year coaching Nico while employed as the head coach at NAU. Nico was no longer on the NAU team, so Smith had to coach him on the side.
Despite Smith's full-time job requiring him to be focused primarily on his NAU athletes, Nico was still able to thrive. He ran a PB 3:50 mile, ran a PB 12:51 indoors, won the 3k at GST Philadelphia, then won the 5k at the DL Oslo meet in an outdoor US record of 12:45.
Based on all of Nico's races this year, I'd say Smith and Nico have shown they can get great results working together even if coaching Nico isn't in Smith's full-time job description.
I think you’re proving the point most are trying to make. Ever since Nico started training full-time inside a Nike environment, the dynamic has clearly shifted, and in his very first race he’s no longer the top dog. That alone is what has people uneasy. Others have already said it, if Parker keeps beating him like this, at some point it’s fair to question whether Nico needs a setup where his own coach isn’t financially incentivized to prioritize the guys lining up next to him in the same race. This isn’t anti-Nico at all, its exactly the opposite. People are raising this because they want to see him maximize his career, not become collateral inside someone else’s system.
If Abdihamid Nur is the next guy lining up and beating Nico, then what are we even doing here? At that point, staying in that Nike environment makes zero sense for his career.
What pattern? Mike Smith started his official duties as Nike Swoosh TC Flagstaff Coach on July 1. Since that time, this is what Nico has done:
Won the 10k at the US Championships
Finished 3rd in the 5k at the US Championships to make the US World Championship team; his first time making a US team in that event
Finished 5th in the 10k and 6th in the 5k at the World Championships, a big improvement over his 12th place finish in the 10k at the Olympics
Overcame a short turnaround from Tokyo to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships
Looks like things are going well to me!
Also: Prior to starting the Nike job, Smith spent the entire 2024-2025 academic year coaching Nico while employed as the head coach at NAU. Nico was no longer on the NAU team, so Smith had to coach him on the side.
Despite Smith's full-time job requiring him to be focused primarily on his NAU athletes, Nico was still able to thrive. He ran a PB 3:50 mile, ran a PB 12:51 indoors, won the 3k at GST Philadelphia, then won the 5k at the DL Oslo meet in an outdoor US record of 12:45.
Based on all of Nico's races this year, I'd say Smith and Nico have shown they can get great results working together even if coaching Nico isn't in Smith's full-time job description.
I think you’re proving the point most are trying to make. Ever since Nico started training full-time inside a Nike environment, the dynamic has clearly shifted, and in his very first race he’s no longer the top dog. That alone is what has people uneasy. Others have already said it, if Parker keeps beating him like this, at some point it’s fair to question whether Nico needs a setup where his own coach isn’t financially incentivized to prioritize the guys lining up next to him in the same race. This isn’t anti-Nico at all, its exactly the opposite. People are raising this because they want to see him maximize his career, not become collateral inside someone else’s system.
As I pointed out, Nico's first race with Smith as a full-time Nike coach was the 10k at the US Championships. Nico won that race.
I think you’re proving the point most are trying to make. Ever since Nico started training full-time inside a Nike environment, the dynamic has clearly shifted, and in his very first race he’s no longer the top dog. That alone is what has people uneasy. Others have already said it, if Parker keeps beating him like this, at some point it’s fair to question whether Nico needs a setup where his own coach isn’t financially incentivized to prioritize the guys lining up next to him in the same race. This isn’t anti-Nico at all, its exactly the opposite. People are raising this because they want to see him maximize his career, not become collateral inside someone else’s system.
As I pointed out, Nico's first race with Smith as a full-time Nike coach was the 10k at the US Championships. Nico won that race.
Bro, read it slower. Nico was not training full-time with the Nike guys over the summer. That started in the fall. And what happens immediately? First race in that setup, he gets straight up smoked by Parker in a 10k for XC and isn’t the top dog anymore. That’s the entire point. Stop dragging summer track results into a fall argument totally different setup, totally different dynamic. Since he stepped into the Nike machine, the scoreboard flipped. That’s the concern not the results before that.
As I pointed out, Nico's first race with Smith as a full-time Nike coach was the 10k at the US Championships. Nico won that race.
Bro, read it slower. Nico was not training full-time with the Nike guys over the summer. That started in the fall. And what happens immediately? First race in that setup, he gets straight up smoked by Parker in a 10k for XC and isn’t the top dog anymore. That’s the entire point. Stop dragging summer track results into a fall argument totally different setup, totally different dynamic. Since he stepped into the Nike machine, the scoreboard flipped. That’s the concern not the results before that.
It's much ado about one December race without taking into account where Nico was at in his training coming back from Tokyo. Nico's baseline goal was to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships. He achieved his goal.
All of Nico's results since graduating from NAU are relevant to this topic because they show he can thrive when coaching him is not in Smith's full-time job description.
It would make more sense to see how Nico's 2026 track season goes before sounding alarms.
Bro, read it slower. Nico was not training full-time with the Nike guys over the summer. That started in the fall. And what happens immediately? First race in that setup, he gets straight up smoked by Parker in a 10k for XC and isn’t the top dog anymore. That’s the entire point. Stop dragging summer track results into a fall argument totally different setup, totally different dynamic. Since he stepped into the Nike machine, the scoreboard flipped. That’s the concern not the results before that.
It's much ado about one December race without taking into account where Nico was at in his training coming back from Tokyo. Nico's baseline goal was to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships. He achieved his goal.
All of Nico's results since graduating from NAU are relevant to this topic because they show he can thrive when coaching him is not in Smith's full-time job description.
It would make more sense to see how Nico's 2026 track season goes before sounding alarms.
That response is still missing the actual point of the thread. Nobody is arguing that Nico’s past results don’t matter or that he hasn’t had great success, the entire discussion is about what’s happened since he started training daily with the Nike guys this fall. Once that shift happened, his very first race in that environment he gets beaten head to head by his Nike training partners. That’s the data point people are reacting to. Bringing up Tokyo recovery, summer track, or pre fall results just changes the subject. Yes, 2026 will matter long term, but it’s completely fair to question the setup now when the first real race in this new arrangement already shows a different hierarchy. And glad you agree that he should be worried if it continues this spring.
It's much ado about one December race without taking into account where Nico was at in his training coming back from Tokyo. Nico's baseline goal was to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships. He achieved his goal.
All of Nico's results since graduating from NAU are relevant to this topic because they show he can thrive when coaching him is not in Smith's full-time job description.
It would make more sense to see how Nico's 2026 track season goes before sounding alarms.
That response is still missing the actual point of the thread. Nobody is arguing that Nico’s past results don’t matter or that he hasn’t had great success, the entire discussion is about what’s happened since he started training daily with the Nike guys this fall. Once that shift happened, his very first race in that environment he gets beaten head to head by his Nike training partners. That’s the data point people are reacting to. Bringing up Tokyo recovery, summer track, or pre fall results just changes the subject. Yes, 2026 will matter long term, but it’s completely fair to question the setup now when the first real race in this new arrangement already shows a different hierarchy. And glad you agree that he should be worried if it continues this spring.
A data point needs to be examined in full context for it to be properly understood. Ignoring where Nico was at with resuming his training following Tokyo ignores relevant context.
They say worry is a misuse of the imagination, but if you and others here want to continue fretting about one December race without taking into account the context, go ahead. I'm not concerned.
nico is only around 10 weeks off from worlds. he most likely has aimed to peak at worlds, and is currently in the middle of a massive build.
made the team. mission accomplished.
Also, Parker Wolfe is a mega talent.
And there's no chance Mike Smith isn't doing everything within his powers to make nico the best possible runner he can be. What do you all suppose the nike guys have available to them that nico doesn't? I'd bet ZERO.
I think you’re proving the point most are trying to make. Ever since Nico started training full-time inside a Nike environment, the dynamic has clearly shifted, and in his very first race he’s no longer the top dog. That alone is what has people uneasy. Others have already said it, if Parker keeps beating him like this, at some point it’s fair to question whether Nico needs a setup where his own coach isn’t financially incentivized to prioritize the guys lining up next to him in the same race. This isn’t anti-Nico at all, its exactly the opposite. People are raising this because they want to see him maximize his career, not become collateral inside someone else’s system.
As I pointed out, Nico's first race with Smith as a full-time Nike coach was the 10k at the US Championships. Nico won that race.
Be prepared for him to change usernames again before responding to you with the same answer. "BrandBeforeRunner" has been lost to the VPN netherworld.
As I pointed out, Nico's first race with Smith as a full-time Nike coach was the 10k at the US Championships. Nico won that race.
Bro, read it slower. Nico was not training full-time with the Nike guys over the summer. That started in the fall. And what happens immediately? First race in that setup, he gets straight up smoked by Parker in a 10k for XC and isn’t the top dog anymore. That’s the entire point. Stop dragging summer track results into a fall argument totally different setup, totally different dynamic. Since he stepped into the Nike machine, the scoreboard flipped. That’s the concern not the results before that.
Is Nike paying Alex Gibby under the table or something too?