MattHatter wrote:
Jerry thought he could do the same thing Mike Smith is doing, coaching a college plus a pro team.
the difference is Bowerman is a much bigger commitment than Mike Smith Elite, which only has a few select athletes. Smith doesn't even have a website or a team logo, while Bowerman is run like a company - merch, youth camps, promotion, etc...
Also Mike Smith tells his pro runners up front it's just a part time thing and that NAU is his priority. Abdi talked about this in an interview, saying he and Louis are out training by themselves most of the time, their running schedules made up by Smith. they just report their times to Smith and only train with him in person maybe once or twice a week. and Smith almost never travels with them.
No, it's not even comparable because Smith only coaches a handful of pro's and that formed AFTER he was an established college coach. Plenty of college coaches have done this (Eyestone, Tracy, Powell). Jerry's been wanting for years to coach college so he could get a jump on developing athletes before they went pro. It had nothing to do with doing what Mike Smith is doing.
The major difference is altitude. The BTC athletes either need to be away from the their coach when at altitude or sacrifice gains from altitude to be with their coach in Eugene. I'm shocked Jerry thought he could pull of the BTC/college combination based at sea level. Some were bound to leave.