Miller returning to Cornell football

Steve Miller, the architect of 87 victories, 10 winning seasons and two conference championships as Cornell College’s head football coach from 1987-2001, is returning to the Ram sidelines.

Miller will serve as a special assistant to the head coach as Vince Brautigam begins his first season at the helm. Miller joined the team during spring drills which got underway April 29.

“It’s going to be fun to get back and be involved on the practice field and in the game-day experience again,” said Miller, a 1965 Cornell graduate and member of the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame. “There is no way you can have that coach-player relationship without being on the field, and that is one of the things I loved most in coaching. This is an opportunity to get reconnected in that way. Working with the guys at practice was always the most enjoyable part of coaching for me.”

Miller retired in March with 36 years of service on the Hilltop, the last eight as the college’s associate director of development. He was an influential figure in Cornell athletics for 28 years as a coach and administrator. Miller coached six varsity sports and served two terms as athletic director. He’s still best known for a successful 15-year coaching run with Rams football.

Miller carries his expertise back to the gridiron for the first time since 2001, when he led the Rams to a 7-3 record and challenged for the Iowa Conference title. Cornell enjoyed its last winning season in Miller’s final campaign.

Miller’s last game at Cornell was against Brautigam in his first season as Dubuque’s coach.

“My respect for Coach Miller goes back to the 2001 season when I was a first-year coach in the Iowa Conference,” Brautigam said. “My respect for him has grown immensely over the years, and now I feel honored to work alongside him.

“His knowledge, respect and enthusiasm will be valuable assets to our program. I feel that Coach Miller reopens the door to a successful past and foundation that our present players need to embrace as we rebuild and strive to achieve those same goals once again.”

Miller is second on Cornell’s all-time football wins list with an 87-55 mark. He guided the Rams to eight consecutive winning seasons in the 1990s, stamped with Midwest Conference titles in 1995 and 1992. His 1992 squad, quarterbacked by his son Matt, finished an undefeated season at 10-0 and set a school record for wins. Miller was named Kodak Regional Coach of the Year in 1992 and tabbed Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1995.

Miller fashioned a 121-94-2 overall record in 23 seasons as a collegiate head football coach. He started his coaching career at Carroll (Waukesha, Wis.) College, where he went 30-15-1 in five seasons and led the Pioneers to the 1976 NCAA Division III playoffs. Miller left Carroll after the 1976 season and spent the next three years at Division II Morningside (Sioux City) College. He returned to Cornell in 1980 as an assistant under legendary coach Jerry Clark and then took over the head job in 1987.

Miller played football, basketball and baseball at Cornell. A two-time all-conference performer in football, Miller quarterbacked the 1964 conference championship squad to a 7-1 mark. Later that school year he was named the school’s first NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner.

The Rams finished 2-8 overall, 1-7 in the IIAC last season. Miller hopes to help restore the excitement of football Saturdays that was so prevalent during his coaching era.

“We hope to re-establish that winning atmosphere. Success permeates throughout campus. You don’t have to be a football fan,” Miller said. “I know we have our goals set very high. Vince has a good staff of young guys who are eager and enthusiastic and know what they are doing. I have already noticed a lot of very effective teaching on the field. That is very similar to when I was here.”

Miller’s wife, Ruth, retired in 2007 after eight years as Cornell’s alumni director. They have two grown children, Sarah and Matt, who both live in the St. Paul, Minn., area.