Hear me out. Nico Young has had a tremendous NCAA career. Numerous All American honors, all kinds of XC team titles, and fantastic PRs, but wasn’t that always going to be the case with Nico? One of the greatest HS runners of all time, and while a great college career is never a given, it was all but certain that Nico would do this at the next level. When he took 4th his Freshman year (albeit a COVID year) the only logical next step for was for him to win an individual title. Yet he failed to advance out of track regionals and came a disappointing 11th the following year in cross. Since then he has taken 2nd and now 6th in cross and has come no higher than 3rd indoors or outdoors on the track. Mike Smith is believed by many to be one of the best coaches in the world, and I do think he’s tremendous, but has he underachieved with Nico? Or has it simply been a case of there always being a couple guys better than him.
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Has Mike Smith failed Nico Young?
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29159
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Nico strikes me as a roadie more than a track guy. I expect a Mantz vs. Young marathon rivalry to take place.
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Winning an individual NCAA championship would be awesome, but it’s not the end goal. The end goal is to gradually develop while in college and then be prepared for a successful pro career.
Look at German Fernandez. Dave Smith got him an NCAA title but failed to properly prepare him for a successful pro career the way Mike Smith has done for Abdihamid Nur and Luis Grijalva. Having a successful pro career is much more important.
15214 -
I agree, Nico has been stagnant since arriving at NAU. Sahlman has been a letdown too.
I was expecting bigger improvement from the wake Forest transfer as well, with altitude and with Mike Smith.
Smith is a good coach but some people on this board will make him seem like a God. He's really overrated on this forum.
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For what it's worth, Dave Smith has produced more successful pro athletes than Mike Smith. That's a FACT.
Nobody could have kept German healthy. German worked as an assistant coach at OSU for a while, so he obviously never thought Dave ruined his career. Stop with the slander.
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People on this forum are insufferable toolbags. If anyone doesn’t win, they’re considered a failure. The real “failures” are idiots that start these threads.
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cold hard facts wrote:
Stop with the slander.
Technically it’s libel, not slander. Slander is spoken. Libel is written.
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he is too skinny and has a lack of muscle. He needs 5-8lbs of actual muscle to improve from here.
2154 -
cold hard facts wrote:
For what it's worth, Dave Smith has produced more successful pro athletes than Mike Smith. That's a FACT.
Stupid fact. Dave is 10 years older and has been coaching much longer. Who has produced more successful pro runners in the last 5 years?
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Losers gonna be losers wrote:
People on this forum are insufferable toolbags. If anyone doesn’t win, they’re considered a failure. The real “failures” are idiots that start these threads.
Times 1000x
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Mike Smith is better than Dave Smith wrote:
Winning an individual NCAA championship would be awesome, but it’s not the end goal. The end goal is to gradually develop while in college and then be prepared for a successful pro career.
Look at German Fernandez. Dave Smith got him an NCAA title but failed to properly prepare him for a successful pro career the way Mike Smith has done for Abdihamid Nur and Luis Grijalva. Having a successful pro career is much more important.
German ruined himself, Dave Smith isn’t responsible for German’s failed pro career. Get a grip and let it go.
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Losers gonna be losers wrote:
People on this forum are insufferable toolbags. If anyone doesn’t win, they’re considered a failure. The real “failures” are idiots that start these threads.
Was thinking the exact same thing... good lord people are idiots. And it's not just this thread.. it's nearly all... trash people or complain about some crap.
FFS
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unless your child is a 25 year old Kenyan why would you send your son to run there?
he doesnt develop runners, and when he had a generational talent he destroyed him.
2026 -
misfitlove14 wrote:
German ruined himself, Dave Smith isn’t responsible for German’s failed pro career. Get a grip and let it go.
Of course Dave Smith is responsible. He was the coach! He failed to do his job. His failure to properly develop German is the biggest coaching screwup in US men’s distance running history.
1523 -
If 4th, 11th, 2nd and 6th at NCAA nationals is ruining then please ruin me too Mike Smith!! Lol
1056 -
Considering German’s prodigious talent, he should have won multiple NCAA championships and gone on to a successful pro career. If only he had a better college coach.
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Mike Smith is better than Dave Smith wrote:
misfitlove14 wrote:
German ruined himself, Dave Smith isn’t responsible for German’s failed pro career. Get a grip and let it go.
Of course Dave Smith is responsible. He was the coach! He failed to do his job. His failure to properly develop German is the biggest coaching screwup in US men’s distance running history.
Actually, Jerry Schumacher was the coach when he fell apart. Why does Dave at the school get the blame?
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Mike Smith is better than Dave Smith wrote:
misfitlove14 wrote:
German ruined himself, Dave Smith isn’t responsible for German’s failed pro career. Get a grip and let it go.
Of course Dave Smith is responsible. He was the coach! He failed to do his job. His failure to properly develop German is the biggest coaching screwup in US men’s distance running history.
Not to mention Nataly Cook! Ruined after one season. Thank goodness she got out in time. Hopefully the staff at Colorado can restore her to how she was before Dave Smith got her hands on her.
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German was damaged goods by the time he got to Jerry.
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