Miller spreads 'Coach of the Year' credit around
By Bruce Wallace
Let's face it, if Tillie Bill had not unleashed a 30-yard bomb for the first goal in the district title game - which led to two more scores - and the SoBoCo Eagles defense, seemingly held together with baling wire and athletic tape, had not suffocated the Fatima Comets defense, this story might not be about Chris Miller.
But Miller and assistant coach Darlene Moore put together a plan for the Eagles girls soccer team, combined it good athletic talent and a small dose of literature and famous quotes and finished one step away from playing in soccer's final four.
For his efforts, Miller was named Class 1 Coach of the Year for the second time, being previously honored after the fall 2007 boys season in which his team won the first Eagles district soccer title.
But Miller is quick to deflect attention from his personal honors, reminding anyone who asks that assistant coach Moore spent as many hours working with the players and that the players themselves did the work in practice and carried the load in games.
"In all fairness, we had two very different teams and different situations," Miller said of his two district titles. "I fell into a very good situation with the boys team and the girls we knew would have a chance to do some great things this year.....and they did everything we asked of them."
Miller had success in starting a program at Moberly and as the girls head coach in Jefferson City, where the program he built won two district titles after he left.
"He was really dedicated to the players and helped make us successful," said recent Jefferson City graduate and soccer player Kelsey Sanders. "He works with you and gives you a lot of confidence."
Miller showed his coaching ability this past spring as he took a few returning starters, one individual who is the one of the top players in the state and a number of newcomers and melded them together to play as a team.
"He keeps their attitudes in check," said Darlene Moore. "There were no cliques or class hierarchy. Chris focuses on the entire team."
Miller is known throughout the state for his coaching ability and, the world of soccer being a familiar, small family, he is known for his tendencies to have a tough defense and an offense with plenty of passing.
But his players will tell you that the key to being on Miller's team is paying attention to details.
Southern Boone soccer teams always - always - tuck in their shirts. They always line their team bags up near the bench in a nice, neat row. Miller is a stickler for such details.
"It's not so much a control thing as it is just paying attention to details," Moore said. "He tells the kids that if they don't pay attention to the small things, they won't pay attention to bigger things. We tuck in our shirts and keep them tucked in and we move our feet on defense. We don't lose track of the big things, like defense or ball control, either."
Players, teenagers, aren't always so ready to keep things nice and neat and yet, on Miller's teams, they do so because they see themselves becoming better players and a better team.
"He had me playing some defense," said former goal scorer Ricky Old, from the boys district title team. "I worked at it because it worked," Old then laughs and says that also the coach had him running "every time a goal kick hit the ground before we got to it."
Not having to run extra motivated Old.
Miller smiles when he is told what Old said.
"I don't do very much without having some kind of point behind it," Miller said. "To motivate some players, it's easy. You know what they feed off of. I try to treat all kids the same, but I'm probably tougher on kids who are better (players) and more experienced. This year, these girls didn't take it personally when I got on them."
Moore, who's daughter played for Miller and now son David plays on the boys team, claims Miller takes one formula and applies it to where players are in their ability to execute on the field.
"He builds people from where they are and enables them to contribute more," coach Moore said. "I think one of his strengths is that he works on basics. Kelby Wheeler had never played soccer before this year, but is a good athlete and Chris focused on the things she could do for us while explaining the game to her. Technique-wise, Kelby's not perfect, but we can work on that and she will work on her own to get better."
Miller, an English teacher at the Middle School, realizes that life is about more than soccer.
Ask any of his players and they will roll their eyes, smile and tell you about the daily quotes, readings or stories he brings on bus trips and other tidbits that keep the long soccer season from being more than "just another practice" or "a long bus ride."
"He told the girls about the legend of the Lakota warriors this year," Moore said. "He talked about being happy in life and he loves to talk about the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal hockey team and his favorite movie 'Miracle.'"
But when you talk to his players about this kind of coaching, they will never act as though Miller is shoving learning down their throats. Instead, it is a part of the culture he creates in the soccer program. It is part of what he likes about being at a small-school setting.
"I've been at big schools and small schools," Miller said. "I'm proud of what I started at Moberly and Jeff City's district titles. Here? There is not always a ton of talent, but you tend to get a group of kids who want to learn and they want to do things right. They work hard and that made this last spring the most rewarding season ever."
Just as quickly as he finishes that sentence, Miller praises the players, parents and volunteers who have built the southern Boone youth leagues. "A lot of people have worked hard to develop this program," Miller says.
Later this month, Miller will take a team of Mid-Missouri players, including SoBoCo players Cord Pauley and David Moore, to play in Germany.
"We leave July 16 and will be gone for 10 days," Miller said. "It is the trip of a lifetime, but not just because we will be playing soccer. These kids will see things that most students read about in history books. They will experience another culture and it will be educational for them."
The team will also play in the Budweis Cup in Prague before returning home.