Mizzou 25: Coaches Edition (FINALS)
by The Boy
on May 23, 2008 5:57 AM CDT
in News
We're to the end of the Mizzou 25 Coaches Edition, the tournament to determine who was the best, most likable, most influential Mizzou coach in the last 25 years! The Finals pit two coaches who have plowed their way through to the finals with no regard for human life. Norm Stewart has won his matchups by an average of 97%-3%, while Brian Smith has averaged an impressive 84%-15%. Though they only served in the athletic department at the same time for about one year, they both created a reputable program against considerable odds and found their way to #1 rankings and All-American honors.
If you want to see how this competition played out, click here for the bracket. We encourage you to pass this link to anybody and everybody. After Ben Askren's Mizzou 25 win and Brian Smith's dominant win over Gary Pinkel in the Mizzou 25 Coaches semis, it's safe to say that Mizzou Wrestling fans will be representing strongly, so it's up to fans of Norm and Mizzou Basketball to do the same. Consider that a challenge. And with that said...
1 Norm Stewart vs 3 Brian Smith |
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|---|---|---|
 |
vs |  |
1967-99 |
1998-present |
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| Career Record at Mizzou: 631-332 Five Best Seasons: |
Career Record at Mizzou: 119-58-3 Five Best Seasons: |
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| The face of Mizzou Athletics for three decades, Stewart was first an all-time great Mizzou athlete, getting his number retired at Mizzou for his basketball exploits and playing on Mizzou's 1954 National Championship Baseball team. Oh yeah, and he won 634 games in 32 seasons as Tiger head coach, leading Mizzou to two Elite Eights and coaching 8 All-Americans and 29 NBA draftees along the way. He's also the most quotable Missouri Tiger ever, spitting out Normisms faster than you can write them down. | A decade ago, Smith took over a moribund wrestling program and set out to build a national power, slowly but surely. He has succeeded, producing 8 All-Americans, coaching Mizzou 25 Champion Ben Askren to two national titles, and, in 2007, leading Mizzou to a #1 national ranking. In training methods and results, Mizzou Wrestling has fulfilled Brian Smith's vow of becoming a powerhouse. | |
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Is Brian Smith the Barack Obama of this thing?
Comes in with the #3 and destroys the competition. Winning 56-44%.
Norm, I'm sorry.
by Big Head on May 23, 2008 10:36 PM CDT 0 recs
I could see it...
...the energy level of Chitowntiger and the Obamaniacs Smithamaniacs is quite comparable.
And I did feel that Norm had an aura of inevitability when this started...just like Hillary was attempting to project...
by The Boy on
May 24, 2008 8:58 AM CDT
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I actually had Obama on my radio show a few yrs
back. Great guy, great interview. I don't know how well Brian Smith will do with all the media requests IF he wins this thing :)
by Big Head on
May 24, 2008 10:56 AM CDT
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Norm's cut the lead to 43...
...the closest he's been in a while...somebody finds a good place to whore, and he might still make it a battle...
by The Boy on
May 24, 2008 11:49 AM CDT
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wrestling fans
must be dispurportionatly represented on the internet. While I and all Mizzou fans certainly respect what Brian Smith has done here, saying he's better, more likable, and more influential of a mizzou coach than Norm is a little ridiculous. Better is arguable, though Norm had more of a track record, and at his height I think produced equivolent success. But more likable and influential both hands down go to Norm. Anyone who argues otherwise is simply fooling themselves.
by fltfire on May 24, 2008 5:20 PM CDT 0 recs
Well said
Norm is a true son, a National Champion and will always be synonymous with Mizzou, internet ballet stuffing or otherwise. 700 wins taking over a 3 win program speaks for itself.
by JayC on
May 24, 2008 8:23 PM CDT
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I don't believe...
...anybody will think any less of Norm if he loses an internet poll, yes. :-)
by The Boy on
May 24, 2008 10:12 PM CDT
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Not growing up in Missouri changes your outlook
Having not grown up a Mizzou fan, I knew very little about Norm Stewart when I got to Mizzou during his final two years. I think that Norm was a very good coach, to be sure, but I don't kneel at his altar like many Missouri fans do. Brian got his team to third in the nation from absolutely nothing. Smith had nowhere near the resources, fans or anything else that Nortm had. I've personally met both men, and have no problem calling Brian more likable. If that makes me a fool in your eyes, that's a designation I can live with.
by chitowntiger on May 24, 2008 6:00 PM CDT 0 recs
Really
I think "more likable" refers to their public persona as very few have met either of these men, much less both. If you have and find Mr. Smith more likable, I respect that and hardly consider it foolish.
I do think "not growing up" in Missouri, but coming to the university in the last few years of Norm's tenure scews your perspective - it just doesn't make it more accurate. It's not like Mizzou was some kind of basketball powerhouse when Norm took over. In fact, they had a 34% winning percentage in the 5 years before he took over. As far as comparing relative resources and fanbase, I don't think either of us can really pretend to know who was in a better position.
Niether man has won a team national title. Norm has #1 ranked teams on many occasions and numerous all-americans - only he maintained a relatively to very high level of success for more than thirty years. While I certainly don't underapreciate Mr. Smith, he could only begin to seriously enter the discussion with Mr. Stewart as Missouri's top coach after about another quater century of success.
by fltfire on
May 24, 2008 11:02 PM CDT
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The case for Smith...
...and make no mistake, I voted for Norm...but the case for Smith is as follows:
- He's never been put on probation
- His #3 finish in 2007 is basically like making a Final Four, something Norm never did.
Now...few get put on probation in wrestling, as the competition for top recruits isn't a life-and-death struggle as it is in basketball. And second, the depth of college basketball is so much greater...meaning, when the NCAAs start in college basketball, somewhere around 15-25 teams have a decent shot at the Final Four (not in 2008, but in some years). In wrestling, that number is somewhere around 6-10...if that. To me, there's no doubt that Norm should have won. However, Smith does have at least a case here.
by The Boy on
May 25, 2008 9:28 AM CDT
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Getting somewhere from absolutely nothing
In the two years before Norm got to Mizzou, the Tigers basketball team won six games and lost 43. They hadn't won any part of a conference title since 1940, when they were part of a three-way tie for the Big Six championship. They hadn't won a title outright since 1930. Their only postseason appearance ever came in 1944, but they were just a 9-8 team pinch-hitting for an Iowa squad that had to pull out of the NCAAs because of the war. They played in a decrepit old fieldhouse with a dirt sub-floor with pigeons that dive-bombed from the rafters.
Norm started with nothing.
In his first season, Mizzou went from three wins to 10, then to 14, then to 15, then to 17, then to 21, the first 20-win season in school history. They won 21 again the next year, and spent the final three monts of the season in the top 20, and mostly in the top 10. He won eight conference championships. He got to number one in the nation in two different seasons. He's in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
I have a tremendous amount of admiration for Brian Smith, but it's no slight to him to say that he's not yet Norm Stewart. Nobody is.
by Michael Atchison on
May 25, 2008 10:11 AM CDT
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