Nike announces a new track club to be named “Swoosh TC,” an amalgam of three

© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated

Nike has announced the amalgamation of three of its training centres into a club of one named Swoosh TC.

Three into one…

The three separate “clubs,” are training in Flagstaff, AZ for the altitude benefits. Eugene, OR for its proximity to Nike, Oregon University and Hayward Field. There is also Provo, Utah. The group’s head coaches are Jerry Schumacher, Mike Smith and Diljeet Taylor, respectively.

The locations will continue, the coaches are in position, and the athletes will now have access to the three training centres apparently in a more fluid way. Bringing the name under one brand may provide marketing benefits to Nike, while the athletes and coaches may feel like part of one greater team — better together.

There are a number of Nike-sponsored athletes who have their own coaches and do not belong to any of the three Nike-funded groups. These athletes will also have access to the Nike Swoosh TC locations and facilities.

Provo sits at semi-altitude at 4,549 feet (1,387 m), while Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet (2,130 m) above sea level. Currently, the Provo group is female only. Eugene is at sea level. All locations are popular for elite training, not just for Nike groups, but many of America’s competitive middle-distance and distance athletes.

Curiously, all three coaches are heading collegiate programs. Speculation abounds that Nike will not allow non-Nike athletes to be coached by Schumacher, Taylor and Smith.

Shalane Flanagan will continue to work with Schumacher.

Northern Arizona University is an adidas-sponsored program

Northern Arizona University (NAU) is an adidas-sponsored school program. There are a limited number of Nike athletes at NAU. Meanwhile. there is a mix of On, Hoka and other adidas-sponsored athletes attending.

It is unknown if Nike Swoosh TC team members will have the luxury of choosing coaches and locations. Or will these decisions be made by Nike and the three head coaches?

Diljeet Taylor

For eight seasons, Diljeet Taylor has been the head coach of the women’s team at Brigham Young University (BYU). She will now have a second job as a coach at Nike.

Taylor is the current women’s head coach at BYU and Associate Director of Track and Field. She has been in that position since at least 2016. She was previously the director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Cal State Stanislaus from 2013 to 2016, her alma mater.

Taylor also has coaching experience dating back to 2005 with Cal State Stanislaus and at Menlo College.

She was a three-time All-American in indoor and outdoor track during her career at Cal State and set the school record for the indoor 800m in 2002. The mother of two served as team captain for two years for the Warriors.

Mike Smith

It is no secret Mike Smith has been hired by Nike. The news was made public in August last year.

Smith was head coach at Northern Arizona University for eight years.

Under Smith, the men’s cross country program has never finished lower than second at the NCAA Championships. In 2023-24, the women’s program earned its best finish at the national meet since 1992.

Smith earned 34 Big Sky Coach of the Year honours and is a five-time Bill Dellinger Award winner for the National Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Among many other awards and honours.

Smith coached three students to four NCAA records. Nico Young ran the 10,000m in 26:52.72 in 2024. He also ran an indoor 5000m in 12:57.14 last year. There is also Drew Bosley indoors in the 3000m clocking 7:36.42 last year and Abdihamid Nur running 5000m in 13:06.32 three years ago.

Smith began his coaching career at Georgetown University, spending four years there. He was the director and head coach of the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs during the 2015-16 season. Smith coached 47 All-Americans, 23 NCAA Championship qualifiers, and two Olympic Trials participants.

Smith’s wife Rachel will assist in coaching duties.

Jerry Schumacher

Since 2022, Jerry Schumacher has been the head coach of the University of Oregon’s track and field and cross country programs. He has also served as the head coach for the Bowerman Track Club (BTC). Before his tenure at the BTC, he was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he found great success.

He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina in 1997. The following year, he accepted a job offer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, becoming a head coach. The Badgers won two NCAA titles.

In 2008, Schumacher moved to Nike. He was recruited to run the Nike Oregon Project. Several former Badgers followed. Since, he has coached numerous international athletes, including Canadian Mohammed Ahmed, and Americans Grant Fisher, Evan Jager, and Elise Cranny. In 2022, the University of Oregon hired Schumacher as the head coach for its cross-country and track teams. He retained his position as the coach of the BTC, coaching both collegiate and professional athletes at the same time. Oregon is apparently paying Schumacher $3.4 million.

Nike Oregon Project

The Nike Oregon Project (NOP) was shut down in 2019.

The decision came less than two weeks after coach Alberto Salazar was suspended from coaching for four years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

“This situation, along with ongoing unsubstantiated assertions, is a distraction for many of the athletes and is compromising their ability to focus on their training and competition needs,” wrote Nike CEO Mike Parker. “I have therefore made the decision to wind down the Oregon Project.”

Key whistleblowers were Steve Magness, Kara Goucher, and Dathan Ritzenhein who corroborated on concerns about questionable training, alleged abuse and alleged doping practices by Salazar.