Miller A Natural Fit For Manchester Football Program
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
A 1992 graduate of Manchester High School, Miller has spent the past 15 years at North Miami High School, nine as the head coach of the varsity football team.
After serving as an assistant under Bob Bridge for three seasons at North Miami, Miller spent three seasons at Northwestern as an assistant to Dan Robinson.
In 2004, he became the head man at North Miami, where he compiled a 52-47 record, capped by a sectional title this past year.
Despite the recent postseason success at North Miami, when Brandon Baker stepped down as coach of the Squires in November, talks of Miller’s return to Manchester began to swirl.
“There were rumors that, ‘Miller’s coming to Manchester,’” Manchester Athletic Director Jeremy Markham said. “You hear all those things, but until you see an application to show interest from a candidate, you just never know what to think. It worked out in this situation, where the timing was right and everything kind of fell into place. Greg just rose to the top of those candidates we interviewed.”
According to Markham, he received plenty of applications for the position, which took two months to fill.
“There was a lot of interest from all different areas, with a lot of different experiences,” he said. “It was one of those things, where you don’t know what type of applicants you're going to get and how many. We had a really good pool to choose our head football coach from.”
In the end, it was a former student and an applicant who was already familiar with the Three Rivers Conference that shot to the top of the list.
“Natural fit,” Markham said. “Knowing the TRC, being from the North Manchester community, being a graduate of Manchester High School. He brings a lot to the table. He’s passionate about, not only football, but also teaching in the classroom. He’s a very good teacher and that just carries over onto the football field. He has a vision and he has a plan for the program, all the way from the youth league to the high school level.”
Miller, who resides in North Manchester, will continue to teach 7th grade math at Manchester once the current school year wraps up.
And once he and his wife began doing the math on the pros and cons of taking the job, they felt the change in jobs was for the best.
“My wife and I had some chats about where (our 4-year-old daughter) was going to go to school,” Miller said. “I wanted her at North Miami, where I was, she wants her here in Manchester, where she has all her friends. When this job came open, that was a big consideration. It makes it so much easier to take the job and be in the corporation she’s in.”
Miller has already been in contact with prospective football players and will begin to implement the weight-training program in February.
With his ties to the community, he’s feeling right at home – which he should.
“It's good to know faces, parents and some of the lineages of these kids,” he said. “In some instances, you know you can push some kids a little bit harder, knowing their background.
“I talked to the kids about us having a lot of the similar ties,” he added. “Some of the teachers here at Manchester are the same ones I had. It’s just a fun atmosphere here and we hope to bring some special things back to Manchester.”
Patrolling the hallways at Manchester, Miller will have plenty of recruiting to do, as numbers have been dipping in the program the past number of years.
However, that’s nothing new for him, having coached Class 1A North Miami.
“We didn’t have huge numbers either, but for a 2A school (at Manchester), we’re looking to have some pretty decent numbers,” he said. “Being the new guy in the school, you have to go out and recruit, talking to kids and letting them know what type of program we’re going to run. Get them enthused about the game of football.”
At North Miami, the Warriors were known for a passing attack, which will be a big departure for the Squires, who have been predicated on the run.
“I’m bringing some of my guys along, so there’s going to be some familiarity within the (coaching) staff,” Miller said. “We’ve been a no-huddle shotgun, so we’re expecting to stay with that. Defensively, who knows? We’ll see what we’re going to do.”
Until he figures out exactly what type of defense he’s going to run, he’s just going to soak in the opportunity he has at his alma mater.
“Coming home, it’s always a great feeling,” he said. “I know this community and we love this community. My wife calls this the center of the universe. So, pretty much, we weren’t going to be anywhere else.”[[In-content Ad]]
A 1992 graduate of Manchester High School, Miller has spent the past 15 years at North Miami High School, nine as the head coach of the varsity football team.
After serving as an assistant under Bob Bridge for three seasons at North Miami, Miller spent three seasons at Northwestern as an assistant to Dan Robinson.
In 2004, he became the head man at North Miami, where he compiled a 52-47 record, capped by a sectional title this past year.
Despite the recent postseason success at North Miami, when Brandon Baker stepped down as coach of the Squires in November, talks of Miller’s return to Manchester began to swirl.
“There were rumors that, ‘Miller’s coming to Manchester,’” Manchester Athletic Director Jeremy Markham said. “You hear all those things, but until you see an application to show interest from a candidate, you just never know what to think. It worked out in this situation, where the timing was right and everything kind of fell into place. Greg just rose to the top of those candidates we interviewed.”
According to Markham, he received plenty of applications for the position, which took two months to fill.
“There was a lot of interest from all different areas, with a lot of different experiences,” he said. “It was one of those things, where you don’t know what type of applicants you're going to get and how many. We had a really good pool to choose our head football coach from.”
In the end, it was a former student and an applicant who was already familiar with the Three Rivers Conference that shot to the top of the list.
“Natural fit,” Markham said. “Knowing the TRC, being from the North Manchester community, being a graduate of Manchester High School. He brings a lot to the table. He’s passionate about, not only football, but also teaching in the classroom. He’s a very good teacher and that just carries over onto the football field. He has a vision and he has a plan for the program, all the way from the youth league to the high school level.”
Miller, who resides in North Manchester, will continue to teach 7th grade math at Manchester once the current school year wraps up.
And once he and his wife began doing the math on the pros and cons of taking the job, they felt the change in jobs was for the best.
“My wife and I had some chats about where (our 4-year-old daughter) was going to go to school,” Miller said. “I wanted her at North Miami, where I was, she wants her here in Manchester, where she has all her friends. When this job came open, that was a big consideration. It makes it so much easier to take the job and be in the corporation she’s in.”
Miller has already been in contact with prospective football players and will begin to implement the weight-training program in February.
With his ties to the community, he’s feeling right at home – which he should.
“It's good to know faces, parents and some of the lineages of these kids,” he said. “In some instances, you know you can push some kids a little bit harder, knowing their background.
“I talked to the kids about us having a lot of the similar ties,” he added. “Some of the teachers here at Manchester are the same ones I had. It’s just a fun atmosphere here and we hope to bring some special things back to Manchester.”
Patrolling the hallways at Manchester, Miller will have plenty of recruiting to do, as numbers have been dipping in the program the past number of years.
However, that’s nothing new for him, having coached Class 1A North Miami.
“We didn’t have huge numbers either, but for a 2A school (at Manchester), we’re looking to have some pretty decent numbers,” he said. “Being the new guy in the school, you have to go out and recruit, talking to kids and letting them know what type of program we’re going to run. Get them enthused about the game of football.”
At North Miami, the Warriors were known for a passing attack, which will be a big departure for the Squires, who have been predicated on the run.
“I’m bringing some of my guys along, so there’s going to be some familiarity within the (coaching) staff,” Miller said. “We’ve been a no-huddle shotgun, so we’re expecting to stay with that. Defensively, who knows? We’ll see what we’re going to do.”
Until he figures out exactly what type of defense he’s going to run, he’s just going to soak in the opportunity he has at his alma mater.
“Coming home, it’s always a great feeling,” he said. “I know this community and we love this community. My wife calls this the center of the universe. So, pretty much, we weren’t going to be anywhere else.”[[In-content Ad]]
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