Does Mike Smith coach all NAU runners+pros?

Smith coaches everyone on the NAU team directly.

Guys like Woody have been hopping in with his college athletes, so he gets to work with them hands on

This is correct. My kid is on the team and he’s very directly involved with all the athletes and tailors their weekly mileage/workout plans to each one’s specific needs. Awesome guy.

Awesome to hear. Makes sense why they have consistently been at the top for so long now.

Pro athletes are not supposed to be working out with collegiate athletes unless they are alumni of the school. Mike and NAU up to shady sh$t

This is a very ill-conceived rule with regard to the development of American track and field and cross country, but there's no prohibition that I see with regard to non-organized sessions.

I don't know the compliance rules regarding runners that aren't part of an NCAA team training with a team and/or using a school's facilities, but I think most pros wouldn't look to train with a college team or college guys considering the difference in ability between most pros and most collegiate runners. It's a testament to NAU and Mike Smith that pro level runners (one being an american record holder) would look to them for development. It's not like they recruited Woody to help pace workouts.

Also, while not as relevant to this, but I don't see Mike Smith telling an athlete that taking a break/leaving his group would lead to their downfall. It'll be interesting to see the continued results of these athletes and seeing if more pros gravitate to Flag. I would be shocked if Woody's result and the NAU boys consistent results doesn't attract pros to Mike Smith. I know coaches have their different approaches to motivating athletes, but it seems like Smith doesn't motivate through creating a possibility of failure, or some type of comparison method to motivate. I think I saw something once where Schumacher told Grant that he was behind some of the other guys when he was training at home to motivate him. While it can be useful for many competitive athletes, from everything I see as an outsider, I'd be shocked if Mike Smith ever used such motivational tactics to get his athletes going. If you know otherwise, correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe Schumacher is not what I'm making him out to be either, but from the few things that we get as fans, that's what it seems like.

His kid is Nico Young

If that's your argument then why don't the teams you mentioned have as good of men's teams as women's? Things happen, it doesn't all work out perfectly every year for every team/coach. It takes a perfect combination of recruiting, training, and it all coming together at the same time to be on top. Not every team can be on top every year.

Moved up to 6th team with a 4th place runner this year. Certainly headed in the right direction. It is weird you think they should just dominate. It is talent + training. No one is taking a team with talent gaps to the very top.

This. Sometimes the recruiting doesn’t pan out.

My coach isn’t mike smith, but he does coach a couple pros/elite level athletes of both genders aside from our team, and we all still are prioritized, even the slow guys and girls, and our girls team just isn’t as competitive as our guys team right now.

High level pros don’t need a TON of coaching, moreso just pointers. They know how to hit splits without pacers and are capable of doing so, and generally know what works for them training wise. Being a collegiate head coach is also a full time job, it’s not like highschool where you have your 2-3 extra hours of coaching time.