Greg Miller takes over Squires, plans to restore winning ways
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NORTH MANCHESTER – The change in Manchester High School’s football program is evident. Greg Miller, a 1992 MHS graduate and North Manchester resident, is returning to lead the Squires after coaching North Miami the past nine years, compiling a 52-47 mark. Miller’s tenure at North Miami mirrored the man he replaced at Manchester, as Brandon Baker also left following nine seasons, going 36-58 and sharing the Three Rivers Conference title in 2009. Baker is now the head coach at Northfield. At Monday’s media day, the team helmets were noticeably different and instead of the official team photo being taken inside the gym, the guys went outside to have the it taken at the football field. That photo wouldn’t have been possible three years ago, as the Squires were playing football at Manchester University’s field, but a lot has changed in three years. After lights were installed in the summer of 2011, the Squires began playing football at the high school that fall, and with a completely new coaching staff in place this year, changes are all over, including a new concession stand. “It’s a great time,” Miller said. “We have new equipment in the weight room. The facilities are awesome. It is an exciting time. The field is just beautiful. (Manchester Assistant Director of Maintenance) Jack Rupley has just done a great job taking care of this (field). It is a great time.” As for the helmets, Miller’s just trying to put his mark on the program, which involves a tip of the cap to Manchester’s past. “At North Miami, when I started off, I wanted to blend some of the past traditions with a new look,” he said. “Here, in the early 80s, 90s they had a shield (on the helmets) and we brought that back,” he added, referring to the white ‘M’ being taken off the helmets. “Instead of the S (inside the shield), we put the M. We’re just trying to bring back some of that tradition Manchester had. It’s just a new look to get people excited and get the kids rejuvenated.” Also helping fans get excited and kids rejuvenated is the prospect of a passing game. The past two seasons, Manchester’s had the worst aerial attack in the TRC, as Logan Brunn was 30 of 150 for 443 yards and two scores in 2011, then Jim Sainsbury was just 27 of 88 for 387 yards and three scores in 2012. Passing for 830 yards and five touchdowns the past two years, Miller’s spread offense should open things up a bit. “We’re going to be a no-huddle, shotgun (offense),” Miller said. “We’re going to pick up the tempo and we’re going to run different tempos, depending how we can keep the defense off balance. We’re going to spread people out and throw the ball when we need to. We like to consider ourselves a balanced offense. Not so much 50/50, but being able to run the ball when you need to run and being able to throw it when we need to throw.” While he knows what kind of offense he wants his team to run, it’s who the quarterback will be that he’s trying to figure out – or at least he’s keeping the identity of the signal-caller a secret. “We’re in a good situation, where we have five quarterbacks,” he said. “From Lucas Schilling to Cody Hann, Keelan Norwood, David McAtee and Bailey Ness – who moved in from Warsaw. We have five guys pushing each other for that position. We’ll see – come Mississinewa (Aug. 23) – who the starter will be.” Helping the quarterback, whoever he is, ease into his position will be running back Jacob Casper. As a sophomore for the 4-6 Squires a year ago, Casper’s 950 rushing yards were the second highest in the TRC, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. While he won’t be the sole ball handler in Manchester’s spread offense, he’ll definitely be getting his touches. “We’re going to give our athletes the ball,” Miller said. “We have a lot of great athletes on this team, and of course, Jacob is going to be an integral part of that – both offensively and defensively. I think we’re going to surprise some people with who else is getting some touches and how people get touches.” No matter who has the ball, he’s going to need some blockers up front, and that’s where Miller has been most pleasantly surprised. “We’re really happy with our offensive line,” he said. “That’s one position, that coming into the year, I thought we were going to be a little thin on. But with some numbers coming out, and bodies, we’ve been really impressed with the size and strength that we’ve gained throughout the year. “There’s some veteran anchors,” he added. “Jake Semler, he’s a senior who’s going to be an anchor. Thad Miller, a junior, is working at a couple different positions. Just on down line, being able to push each other helps make for the best team possible.” Defensively, the Squires are moving from the unorthodox 3-5 defense to another uncommon one in the 3-3 stack. “I’ve been working in the 3-stack for about 16 years now,” Miller said. “We’ve gone down to visit Joe Lee Dunn when he was at Mississippi State, so we kind of learned from the master. He’s a guy that’s said to have started it all. We were around Joe Lee for a while, then we went to Georgia Military College, who runs a 3-5. We use more (defensive backs) and linebackers, keeping guys back off the ball. We’re going to put some energetic defensive linemen up there and get them moving, forcing offenses to guess and try to beat us to spots.” Despite mixing things up on both offense and defense, Miller says he’s happy with how the guys have picked things up and sees the development continuing into the season. “I truly believe we’re going to shock a lot of people,” he said. “Our No. 1 objective is to create great young men for Manchester. Doing that, and being disciplined in the classroom and in the community, we’re going to win some games. To say that’s not important is not accurate.” Winning the games is going to be important to Miller and the rest of the Squires, but being a good representative in the community is also important, demonstrated by their presence at North Manchester’s FunFest a week earlier. “It’s about letting the community see us and the great young men we have here at Manchester High School,” he said. “We want them to know it’s a community program and we need them to support us as well as us being out having a positive face in the community.”
