Im curious why Mike Smith would leave to go to Oregon. Doesn't NAU support their distance runners better than pretty much any school in the nation? He also has a young superstar (Nico) and more on the way (Sahlman + likely the other NP kids). Has won 4 of the last 5 NCAA XC titles, could probably win another 3-4 in a row with the talent in the pipeline.
Is Oregon just gonna use Nike money to make an offer that NAU can't match?
There is chatter that this is what is going to happen......
Im curious why Mike Smith would leave to go to Oregon. Doesn't NAU support their distance runners better than pretty much any school in the nation? He also has a young superstar (Nico) and more on the way (Sahlman + likely the other NP kids). Has won 4 of the last 5 NCAA XC titles, could probably win another 3-4 in a row with the talent in the pipeline.
Is Oregon just gonna use Nike money to make an offer that NAU can't match?
A quick google search shows Mike Smith makes $119k per year. He will easily triple or quadruple that at Oregon. Why wouldn’t he go?
Im curious why Mike Smith would leave to go to Oregon. Doesn't NAU support their distance runners better than pretty much any school in the nation? He also has a young superstar (Nico) and more on the way (Sahlman + likely the other NP kids). Has won 4 of the last 5 NCAA XC titles, could probably win another 3-4 in a row with the talent in the pipeline.
Is Oregon just gonna use Nike money to make an offer that NAU can't match?
A quick google search shows Mike Smith makes $119k per year. He will easily triple or quadruple that at Oregon. Why wouldn’t he go?
A quick search shows Ben Thomas makes $120K per year and he is probably the best middle distance coach in the country. Mike Smith would likely get more, but he is absolutely not getting triple or quadruple that at Oregon.
A quick google search shows Mike Smith makes $119k per year. He will easily triple or quadruple that at Oregon. Why wouldn’t he go?
A quick search shows Ben Thomas makes $120K per year and he is probably the best middle distance coach in the country. Mike Smith would likely get more, but he is absolutely not getting triple or quadruple that at Oregon.
You must be confused - Mike Smith would be replacing Robert Johnson, who makes $350 base. And with how much the SEC is paying now, Oregon will be paying close to $500k for their next director
A quick search shows Ben Thomas makes $120K per year and he is probably the best middle distance coach in the country. Mike Smith would likely get more, but he is absolutely not getting triple or quadruple that at Oregon.
You must be confused - Mike Smith would be replacing Robert Johnson, who makes $350 base. And with how much the SEC is paying now, Oregon will be paying close to $500k for their next director
Is this confirmed? I was under the impression that he would be replacing Ben Thomas, but that would be separate from the head coaching job. Why would Oregon hire Mike Smith to run their entire program?
Finalists are former AU distance star and Syracuse HC and now pro coach Chris Fox, Samford’s Rod Tiffin who is AU alum and former ast coach, Scott Richardson, current ast head coach, NC State ast Allen Johnson and Vandy’s Althea Thomas who is a Birmingham native.
You must be confused - Mike Smith would be replacing Robert Johnson, who makes $350 base. And with how much the SEC is paying now, Oregon will be paying close to $500k for their next director
Is this confirmed? I was under the impression that he would be replacing Ben Thomas, but that would be separate from the head coaching job. Why would Oregon hire Mike Smith to run their entire program?
No, this is not confirmed. But there are big rumors that Robert Johnson is not being renewed as the head coach. So if all the rumors are true and Oregon is going after Mike Smith to replace Johnson, they are hiring him to run the entire program for the same reason NAU hired him to run the entire program. To win.
Is this confirmed? I was under the impression that he would be replacing Ben Thomas, but that would be separate from the head coaching job. Why would Oregon hire Mike Smith to run their entire program?
No, this is not confirmed. But there are big rumors that Robert Johnson is not being renewed as the head coach. So if all the rumors are true and Oregon is going after Mike Smith to replace Johnson, they are hiring him to run the entire program for the same reason NAU hired him to run the entire program. To win.
Gotcha thanks, that makes sense then. I wonder if any athletes would follow him if he does go to Oregon. What do Nico/Sahlman do here, I have to imagine Mike Smith was a big reason they came to NAU.
If Robert Johnson were not renewed at Oregon, where would he go? Maybe the Oregon admin and boosters think he's digressed, but it's a high standard at Oregon, and he's still a very successful coach. Wouldn't he be a big time hire somewhere else?
My thinking is that they will try to convince him to take a special Assistant AD role instead of cutting bait with him altogether. The guy can coach and he is respected by his peers. You don't want to send the wrong message to other big fish coaches that you throw people under the bus. That's just my guess