Fifth-year graduate transfer safety Reid Miller is one of the most experienced players on the Montana Grizzlies roster this fall.
He’s also certainly the most well-traveled. Miller grew up in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, before transferring to football factory IMG Academy in Florida for his senior year of high school.
To attend IMG, students must play a sport, and its teams are usually some of the best in the country, producing a number of top recruits and future pro stars every year. Miller’s head coach there was former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.
After that, Miller played at Arkansas, seeing action in 37 games over three years, before graduating in the spring and transferring to Montana.
He’ll add experience and, at a built 5-foot-10, 202 pounds, some physicality to Montana’s secondary. The safety depth chart at Montana now includes two transfers from Power 5 schools in Miller and Gavin Robertson (Arizona), along with another Division I transfer in Robby Hauck (Northern Arizona), all of whom will compete for playing time next to returning starter Josh Sandry.
“He’s bought into the system. Guys respect him,” safeties coach Shann Schillinger said about Miller. “He’s played a lot of downs of college football, so that’s really valuable for what we’re trying to do. … We wanted another guy that could provide some depth, and this guy was perfect for what we were trying to accomplish. Needless to say, we’re excited to have Reid.”
Miller spoke with Skyline Sports after a recent practice. An edited and condensed transcript of that interview is below.
Skyline Sports: What’s it been like being back playing football, and how do you think the first days of practice have been?
Reid Miller: It’s going good. It’s good to be back playing football again. The weather’s been a little hot, but it’s been fun. It’s good to be out here with the guys and back playing again.
Skyline: What’s the intensity been like?
RM: The practice intensity is unbelievable. I think [head] coach [Bobby] Hauck really gets us going in meetings, and Coach Schillinger gets us going in meetings. Every day, no matter the dress, you have to bring 100 percent.
Skyline: What’s your background? How did you end up in Montana?
RM: I’m from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, a small town in Pennsylvania. Then I transferred down to IMG Academy in Florida for my senior year of football. Then I went to Arkansas, played under Bret Bielema for three years, and then when he got fired, I graduated and I was sort of weighing my options. When the new staff came in with Arkansas, I just didn’t think it was a good fit, so I decided to transfer, and Montana was the best fit with Coach Hauck and Coach Schillinger.
Skyline: What drew you to Montana?
RM: Coach Hauck, Coach Schillinger, the history of the program. Coach Hauck being here, being 80-17 his first stint here, that speaks for itself, and there are great people here. My position group, the whole team, they’re great guys.
Skyline: When did Montana start recruiting you?
RM: I probably knew them in April, mid-April, and we started that process while I was still at Arkansas. We were just scheduling a visit, things like that, and I actually signed and committed before the visit just because of the people they are.
Skyline: What was it like playing in the SEC at Arkansas?
RM: No off weeks, I’ll tell you that. Obviously, you’ll play some smaller schools, but when you get to the thick of things, like LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M in three weeks, with Auburn, it’s tough, but you know, it’s football. The football field is 120 yards long. It’s the same game. It was definitely a little bit different, but, I mean, these guys here, they play just as hard and just as fast.
Skyline: What was it like having your senior year at a football factory like IMG?
RM: It was cool. It was a great experience, I’ll put it like that. Great experience, great talent there. [It was] definitely a big adjustment leaving home. You know, I was 16 years old, living in a dorm, living a thousand miles away. But it got me ready for college. [It was] definitely the atmosphere of college, living in a dorm, and then football-wise as well, playing against good competition.
Skyline: What was your daily life like there?
RM: So, you wake up, and then if it’s in-season, you wake up and you have class from 8 a.m. to 12. You have maybe three or four classes that day, depending on your schedule, and then after that you’d have your activity, so I’d have football meetings from 1 to about 2:30, and then we’d practice at 3. There was a cafeteria there, so every day after practice we’d go to the cafeteria. It’s very similar to college, in the fact that you have morning classes, and when you’re done with morning classes, you have practice, and when you’re done with practice it’s kind of your time. So it was definitely a big adjustment from normal high school.
Skyline: What was the talent level like at IMG?
RM: My quarterback my year was Deondre Francois, the quarterback for Florida State. Tony Jones was our running back, he plays at Notre Dame now. Scott Patchan, [he’s now a] defensive end for Miami. My best friend [from IMG] actually went to Arkansas, Hjalte Froholdt, he’s a guard at Arkansas. It was definitely a lot of good guys, and you know, if I went back now to try to play, I don’t think I could. The talent level has just risen. When I was there it was just a bunch of guys that loved football and loved to play. Now, it’s just blown up to something unbelievable.
Skyline: IMG has elite athletes in every sport, not just football. What was that atmosphere like?
RM: To go to the school, you have to play a sport. It’s a smaller school, it’s smaller than people think. My graduating class, there was 125 people, you know, it was very small. Everyone’s always busy, everyone’s always tired, because if we’re out of season, there’s always another team in season. Everyone’s tired, you’re in the dorms…it’s a cool atmosphere, but at the same time, it’s different, and it’s not for everyone. I learned that pretty quick when I got there, a lot of people, in the first two weeks, they leave. But it was fun.
Skyline: When did you get to Missoula?
RM: I got to Missoula the 8th of June. So, I took a summer class here for my MBA and lifted with the team. It was more of me thinking, ‘I want to get here, develop a relationship with the guys, rather than coming during fall camp.’ You develop better relationships if you come earlier.
Skyline: How have you fit in with the team?
RM: It was good. These guys are just great. These guys, they’re down to earth. That’s the biggest thing. I’ve been around places and people that aren’t like that, and not very accepting, but these guys, they accepted me and I’m very grateful for them, and I’m happy to be here.
Skyline: What kind of player are you? Are you an in-the-box safety or more of a coverage guy?
RM: I’ll play hard every snap. I believe I’m blue-collar. Whatever the coaches ask of me, I’ll do, whatever the team asks of me, I’ll do. I prefer to play in the box, but at the same time, in this day and age with football, they spread it out. You’ve got to be able to play both, and I feel like to be a good safety, you have to do it all. You have to cover, you have to be able to hit, and I believe that’s what makes a safety valuable. I prefer the box, but at the same time, I don’t mind covering at all. I enjoy covering, so it’s all the same to me.
Skyline: Where was the craziest place you played in the SEC?
RM: My true freshman year we played at Tennessee, that was pretty cool. Obviously, the Alabama games are always fun. You know, every year we play [Texas] A&M at Cowboys Stadium. That’s a pretty cool rivalry. That atmosphere is pretty good, the stadium’s always divided, you know, half red, half maroon for A&M, in the dome, and it gets pretty loud. But all the SEC stadiums, all the away games, they’re cool experiences. The fanbases at each stadium are a lot different. Some are, I would say, more rude than others, but, you know, it’s always a fun time when you play at an away stadium.
ROSTER UPDATES
Offensive lineman Thayne Jackson was officially off the Montana roster Tuesday, a day after he announced his retirement from football in an Instagram post, citing his “personal and mental health.”
Hauck addressed the departure briefly before practice Tuesday.
“Thayne’s got some personal things going on, and we need to give him some space,” Hauck said. “It’s training camp. It’s college football. People come, people go. These guys, they have lives. They’re not indentured servants. They have lives outside of football. It’s not their job, and young people have a lot of things pulling on them and pushing on them, and sometimes it gets to be to where they have to step back.”
Hauck said that it was unlikely that the Grizzlies would add a transfer, either on the offensive line or elsewhere, at this late date.
However, redshirt freshman Payton Stoner, who left the team in the offseason, was back practicing with the offensive line on Tuesday, wearing Jackson’s No. 71 jersey, and was also listed on the roster.
Stoner, listed at 6-foot-6, 282 pounds, was recruited by Bob Stitt’s staff out of Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego.
Lastly, Kadeem Hemphill, a JUCO transfer cornerback from Santa Rosa Junior College in California, was officially added to the roster Tuesday after practicing with the team for the past few days. Hemphill has been wearing No. 27. According to Amie Just of 406MTSports.com, Hemphill’s twin brother, Jalen, a linebacker, has also been attending practices in street clothes, although he’s not yet on the roster.
Andrew Houghton is a freelance journalist providing Griz football coverage this fall. Photos by Jason Bacaj. All Rights Reserved.
