Galen Rupp's new coach is... NAU coach Mike Smith

Alex87 wrote:

Posting something over and over again doesn't strengthen your argument.

Ok, I see the issue now. I withdraw my complaint.

Mike, Open your eyes ... What exactly do you wish the world knew? And of course Rupp is “all-in,” but therein lies much of the problem. He’s obviously “all-in” in a quest to get an unfair advantage, which he has clearly accomplished. And is that what you want your college guys to think is okay?

“What I found out by getting to know Galen was that there was much more going on than the picture portrayed of him, and I wish the world knew that,” Smith wrote in his email.“I have never seen someone more all-in in my life.”

Does this establish Smith as the #1 coach in America? Huge endorsement for him by Rupp and Salazar even.

#1 college coach and now #1 pro guy too.

caps corner wrote:

Hi Rachel Schneider!

I thought rupp was married to Kiera?

It's a reach, sure, but if Rupp is spotted in Adidas, I may rip on him a bit less for his pathetic PR.

falen wrote:

sanchobaile wrote:

It has been a very long time since I rooted for Galen. Surprised to say that after reading the RW Q&A with Smith, I am rooting for him now.

Nobody cares who you root for

^butthurt alert

rojo wrote:

It's a smart move for Smith. Lots of upside, little downside.

1) He could have a lucrative side business coaching pros in Flagstaff .

2) It raises his profile in recruiting.

3) It gets him in the good graces of Nike.

If Rupp flames out, people won't blame him. They'll blame the injury or assume he was on androgel under Salazar and free of it now.

I guess the negative is if he corresponds with Salazar he ends up banned himself? That would be the hardest thing. If I was a coach,I'd want to talk to the previous coach and talk to him about what did and didnt' work. Is that even allowed?

Rupp is how old.. 30-31? I would think at this point the guy has detailed logging of all of his training and a pretty solid grasp of what they were doing and what worked, etc. So for Smith, he only needs to have a discussion with Rupp. And In the Q&A, smith acknowledged the fact that Rupp is doing new training so that leads me to believe they’re past that stage of their relationship.

The interview sounds like they've already been working together for a while? Will Rupp move to Flagstaff or be coached remotely in Oregon I wonder.....

Seriously mate? wrote:

Wetmore coaches Jenny Simpson, a new balance athlete. He also coached Emma Coburn, another new balance athlete. Colorado is a Nike school. Don't think this is an uncommon occurrence, whatsoever.

Ray Tracey at one time had Molly Huddle (Saucony) , Amy Cragg (Brooks) and Kim Smith (Reebok,NB). Providence College doesn't have a Single Athletic Department wide brand like many other schools do. Track went from Reebok to New Balance, while most of the other teams went to Nike.. Most of the top coaches do have contracts with shoe companies but it is depended on the language in the contract if they can coach athletes sponsored by a different brands.

Soooooo, does this mean Salazar won't be offering his unofficial 'advisory' services behind the scenes?

Smith says he asked Galen a lot of tough questions and took a long time to think it over. I wonder if he got a second opinion - i.e. ask those same questions about Galen from someone with knowledge and different side, like Steve Magness.

We heard the same “vetting” explanation from all the NOP members who joined after the USADA report (“I asked Alberto about it, and he said nothing happened”). It seems like if you were genuinely interested in the truth (and Mike Smith strikes me as someone who is, or at least does a good job giving that impression), you’d certainly seek a third party’s opinion and account, if available (and Smith seems to indeed have a good friendly relationship with Magness).

It’s really frustrating when you hear someone’s explanation for working with someone with such a reputation as simply talking to that person to get assurance.

This in a way makes me want to root for Galen again. Alberto was essentially a father to this kid since the age of 14. If I were him; I most likely would have done whatever Alberto told me to do. Young minds are easily manipulated. Would be awesome to see him launch a 204 right now under Smith.

I recently re-watched the rio marathon and it finally clicked the lengths Rupp and Salazar were willing to go to gain an advantage. I'm sure this point has been made in the past, but Rupp's singlet in Rio was almost laughable (less so than the famous allergy mask). I know Nike actually made the singlet for the Olympics after the Rupp camp took the scissors to it themselves at the trials. That visual queue was enough to validate years of allegations for me--the guy will push boundaries wherever possible.

I'm admittedly a fan of both parties in this situation but I never imagined them matching up. Given Rupp is still competing I like to give him the benefit of the doubt whether or not that holds up is obviously a contentious issue. I really think Smith is a great coach and listen to everything he says or read about him whenever possible. From that it seems like this will be an interesting meshing because Salazar seemed very detail oriented and focused on all of the little things plus some pretty intense training while Smith seems a little bit more zen and focused on a holistic mind body approach with more consistent steady training.

wow shocking wrote:

I'm admittedly a fan of both parties in this situation but I never imagined them matching up. Given Rupp is still competing I like to give him the benefit of the doubt whether or not that holds up is obviously a contentious issue. I really think Smith is a great coach and listen to everything he says or read about him whenever possible. From that it seems like this will be an interesting meshing because Salazar seemed very detail oriented and focused on all of the little things plus some pretty intense training while Smith seems a little bit more zen and focused on a holistic mind body approach with more consistent steady training.

I can assure you that Salazar has not washed his hands of Rupp's training and preparation. Likely, he is emailing Smith on what he wants him to do. It's only a smoke screen. Don't be silly in thinking it's anything otherwise.

I doubt it. Mike Smith admitted he's got a ton at stake and taking Rupp on is a risk. Being an Alberto proxy would be career suicide.

If you're Mike Smith, do you give Galen workouts that work well in your experience, or do you try to continue his previous training plan?

gruppsterr wrote:

I recently re-watched the rio marathon and it finally clicked the lengths Rupp and Salazar were willing to go to gain an advantage. I'm sure this point has been made in the past, but Rupp's singlet in Rio was almost laughable (less so than the famous allergy mask). I know Nike actually made the singlet for the Olympics after the Rupp camp took the scissors to it themselves at the trials. That visual queue was enough to validate years of allegations for me--the guy will push boundaries wherever possible.

Salazar did the same thing at the LA Olympics.

rojo wrote:

I guess the negative is if he corresponds with Salazar he ends up banned himself? That would be the hardest thing. If I was a coach,I'd want to talk to the previous coach and talk to him about what did and didnt' work. Is that even allowed?

You could get this info from the athlete himself, especially with someone as experienced as Rupp. We are not talking about a high school kid joining a college program, or even a college runner joining a pro training group.

By the time Meb won his NYC in 2009 (age 34), he was writing most of his training plans, and Larsen made only a few minor revisions. (This is according to Meb's autobiography.)