Greatest Wheelersburg Coach

trojandave
SEOP
Posts: 4827
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 11:41 pm
Location: Portsmouth HS--15 State Appearances in Boys Basketball--4th All Time in Ohio

Re: Greatest Wheelersburg Coach

Post by trojandave »

Ed Miller would have to be #1 in my opinion, for the simple fact that he took Wheelersburg from a lower SOC team to the top of the league and a consistent playoff contender, culminating in the 1989 state championship. Remember that when Miller took the reigns in the early 70's that the SOC was dominated by Notre Dame, New Boston, East, and West. The SOC was one division, and Wheelersburg quite often was looking up in the standings. One of the most famous games in SOC history was the Notre Dame vs. West tilt in 1970, when the Titans defeated the Senators 14-6 as ND contained West star RB Terry Gardner. Coach Miller left ND shortly thereafter and went to Wheelersburg, his alma mater. Miller won state titles at ND in 1967 and 1970, which were poll titles, just a couple of years before the playoffs began. One of the most notable games which started to turn the tide for Wheelersburg football was beating Portsmouth 11-0 at Spartan Stadium in 1974. At that time, Wheelersburg had a nickname known as the "Big Wheel". There were those in Portsmouth who thought that there was no way that upstart Wheelersburg would come into Spartan and beat the Trojans, considering PHS's rugged GOL schedule, which was much more demanding week in and week out than the Burg's SOC slate.

It is also harder to build a championship program than it is to maintain it. Once Coach Miller got Pirate football to win consistently, the program maintained that level because of several factors: 1) WHS hired excellent coaches 2) more kids desired to play for a winning program 3) the community expected to win consistently, and 4) Wheelersburg's lower level football program is done the right way.

Consistently great success in sports is never the result of just one person's overview. It takes full community support, and Wheelersburg has it like no other athletic program in the SE district.


Jolly P(irate)
SEOP
Posts: 3186
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2015 8:45 am

Re: Greatest Wheelersburg Coach

Post by Jolly P(irate) »

trojandave wrote: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:16 pm Ed Miller would have to be #1 in my opinion, for the simple fact that he took Wheelersburg from a lower SOC team to the top of the league and a consistent playoff contender, culminating in the 1989 state championship. Remember that when Miller took the reigns in the early 70's that the SOC was dominated by Notre Dame, New Boston, East, and West. The SOC was one division, and Wheelersburg quite often was looking up in the standings. One of the most famous games in SOC history was the Notre Dame vs. West tilt in 1970, when the Titans defeated the Senators 14-6 as ND contained West star RB Terry Gardner. Coach Miller left ND shortly thereafter and went to Wheelersburg, his alma mater. Miller won state titles at ND in 1967 and 1970, which were poll titles, just a couple of years before the playoffs began. One of the most notable games which started to turn the tide for Wheelersburg football was beating Portsmouth 11-0 at Spartan Stadium in 1974. At that time, Wheelersburg had a nickname known as the "Big Wheel". There were those in Portsmouth who thought that there was no way that upstart Wheelersburg would come into Spartan and beat the Trojans, considering PHS's rugged GOL schedule, which was much more demanding week in and week out than the Burg's SOC slate.

It is also harder to build a championship program than it is to maintain it. Once Coach Miller got Pirate football to win consistently, the program maintained that level because of several factors: 1) WHS hired excellent coaches 2) more kids desired to play for a winning program 3) the community expected to win consistently, and 4) Wheelersburg's lower level football program is done the right way.

Consistently great success in sports is never the result of just one person's overview. It takes full community support, and Wheelersburg has it like no other athletic program in the SE district.
Respect.


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