Kansas State University Athletics
Football
Miller, Del
Del Miller
- Title:
- Offensive Quality Control
Del Miller, who has worked with some of the most prolific offenses in K-State history, will be a quality control coach through 2017 spring practices as he announced his retirement in February. Miller has spent 20 seasons overall at Kansas State, which includes four different tours of duty in Manhattan under head coach Bill Snyder. Miller, who returned with Snyder in 2009, served as the Wildcats’ co-offensive coordinator while also tutoring the quarterbacks.
Due in part to Miller’s co-directing of an offense and tutelage of quarterbacks, K-State has earned seven-consecutive bowl berths, the longest stretch by K-State since advancing to 11-straight bowl games from 1993 to 2003.
The latest Miller protégé is Jesse Ertz, who in 2016 became just the third quarterback in school history to pass for 1,500 yards and rush for 1,000 yards, joining Ell Roberson (2002) and Collin Klein (2011). Additionally, the Mediapolis, Iowa, product was one of just four signal callers in the nation to accomplish the feat.
Ertz helped the Wildcats set the school record in yards per rush as he ranked fifth in school history and first among quarterbacks by gaining 5.53 yards per carry on the way to the school’s 15th 1,000-yard season. Ertz’s 1,012 rushing yards in 2016 were the third most by a quarterback in K-State history and fifth most in the country.
Thanks to the coaching of Miller, Ertz was more efficient in the passing game toward the end of the year as he was on the front end of two of the school’s longest 15 pass plays in the final two games – an 83-yarder at TCU and a 79-yarder against Texas A&M in the 2016 Texas Bowl, the latter setting a K-State bowl record. Ertz threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in addition to 67 rushing yards and two scores in the Texas Bowl en route to being named the MVP, the first Wildcat quarterback to earn the nod since Roberson in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
Kansas State only threw five interceptions on the year to rank fourth in the country and set the school record for a 13-game season. Ertz threw four of those picks as his career interception percentage of 1.52 ranks as the lowest in school history entering the 2017 season.
As a team, Miller helped direct an offense that ranked 10th nationally in red-zone offense, 22nd in rushing offense, 20th in time of possession and tied for 22nd in both third- and fourth-down conversions.
Another native Iowan quarterback, Jake Waters, found success under Miller as he turned the community-college product into one of the best quarterbacks in program history. The 2014 season saw Waters break the school records for total offense (3,985) and passing yards (3,501) as he ranked 13th and 15th nationally in those categories, respectively. Waters went on to earn All-Big 12 honors while being named a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards.
Waters also set the K-State records for season (65.99) and career (64.08) completion percentage, career yards per attempt (9.09) and career passing efficiency (155.6). He also left K-State ranked second in school history in career passing touchdowns (40) and yards (5,970) despite playing in just 26 games over his two-year career.
Thanks to Miller’s guidance of Waters, K-State ranked in the top 25 nationally in several categories during the 2014 season including passing efficiency (11th), completion percentage (12th), red zone offense (14th) and passing offense (16th).
In 2012, Miller tutored a Heisman Trophy in Klein as the signal caller guided K-State to an 11-2 record and the school’s second BCS Bowl berth. Klein was also the 2012 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner, a finalist for the Maxwell and Manning awards and Walter Camp Player of the Year, while he was named an All-American by numerous organizations. Under Miller’s guidance, Klein improved upon or established 34 career, season or single-game top-10 marks in K-State history, including eight school records. He also became the only quarterback from a Power 5 school in the BCS era (since 1998) to rush for at least 20 touchdowns and pass for at least 10 scores in multiple seasons, while he broke the FBS record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in consecutive seasons.
Miller co-directed a 2012 offense that saw Klein set a new Big 12 record and NCAA record by a quarterback with 27 rushing touchdowns. Klein surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season as well, and became one of the nation’s top players in 2011 under Miller’s guidance. K-State maintained one of the top offenses in the Big 12 in 2011 en route to a 10-3 record and a berth in the 2012 Cotton Bowl.
With K-State needing to break in a new starting quarterback for the 2013 season, the transition was seamless due to Miller’s guidance of K-State’s 1-2 punch of Waters and Daniel Sams, which combined to rank eighth nationally in yards per completion (14.83) and 13th in passing efficiency (155.72). Additionally, K-State was fine-tuned on third downs by leading the Big 12 and ranking 13th nationally at 48.8 percent.
Waters started all 13 games and played especially well when K-State won six of its final seven games as he went 83-of-138 for 1,433 yards and 14 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions down the stretch. His 2,469 yards on the year ranked 10th in school history, and he ranked sixth in K-State history with 18 touchdown passes. Waters, who was a Second Team All-Big 12 selection by Phil Steele, was also one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country as his 15.53 yards per completion ranked fourth in the NCAA and his 156.84 quarterback rating was 14th. Sams earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors as he rushed for 807 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns.
Quarterback uncertainty crept up again in 2015 when Ertz started the season under center but went down with an injury on the first offensive play of the season. Miller was able to coach up a pair of players in Joe Hubener and wide receiver/quarterback Kody Cook as the duo helped guide the Wildcats to three wins in the final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible. K-State’s quarterbacks combined to finish 18th nationally in yards per completion (14.12), including a 14.02 mark by Hubener to finish 17th individually. Hubener, whose final year was 2016, left as the 20th quarterback in school history to pass for 2,000 career yards.
Hubener was also effective in the running game, finishing third nationally among quarterbacks with 13 rushing touchdowns. Thanks in large part to the running abilities of Hubener and Cook, K-State ranked second nationally in red zone offense by converting on 94.5 percent of its opportunities, including a 25-for-25 mark over the final seven games of the season.
In 2010, Miller helped the Wildcat offense average 33.6 points per game en route to the program’s first bowl appearance since 2006. K-State was also ranked among the top 10 teams in the country in total red zone efficiency and No. 1 nationally in touchdown percentage in the red zone. The Cats’ 47-percent conversion rating on third down ranked second in the league, while they were also the least penalized offense in the Big 12. Quarterback Carson Coffman recorded the fifth-highest efficiency rating in school history in 2010 after completing 65-percent of his passes for a passing efficiency rating of 143.1.
In 2009, Miller ushered in a new quarterback as Grant Gregory took over the offense and led the Cats to a 6-6 mark and a second-place finish in the Big 12 North. Behind Gregory’s leadership, K-State was one win away in the final game from advancing to the Big 12 Championship.
Prior to coming back to K-State in 2009, Miller was the offensive coordinator at San Diego State from 2006-08. In his final season there, the Aztecs were led by two redshirt freshmen in quarterback Ryan Lindley and wide receiver Vincent Brown. Lindley threw for 2,653 yards and ranked 40th nationally in total offense, while Brown, an All-Mountain West selection by Phil Steele, ranked 44th nationally with 5.33 receptions per game and hauled in 64 catches for 631 yards and five touchdowns in 2008.
In 2007, the Aztecs ranked 28th nationally in passing offense, throwing for over 3,000 yards, while SDSU also led the Mountain West Conference in red zone offense, scoring nearly 90-percent of the time. Following the season, his quarterback, Kevin O’Connell, was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
One of the first hires made by Snyder when he first came to K-State in 1989, Miller returned to Manhattan in 2001 as offensive coordinator for his third stint on the staff after serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State for the 2000 season.
Miller has played a major role in the building of two major college programs, first at Iowa under the legendary Hayden Fry from 1978-88 before becoming a member of Snyder’s original Kansas State coaching staff. He has coached in 19 bowl games, including 11 at Kansas State.
Miller returned to Kansas State in 1999 to serve as a graduate assistant, helping the Wildcats to a third consecutive 11-win season and a Big 12 North Division co-Championship. After a year at Oklahoma State, he returned to Manhattan in 2001 to serve as the assistant director of football operations before being elevated to defensive ends coach in 2002.
Miller began his second stint as the school’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2003. He helped the Wildcats rank ninth nationally in both scoring and rushing offense and 17th in total offense en route to capturing their first conference championship in nearly 70 years. The offense was one of just seven in the country to average over 200 yards per game in both rushing and passing. Miller was instrumental in developing Roberson at quarterback, who at one time was the school’s all-time leader in total offense and passing touchdowns.
With the opportunity to run his own program, Miller left Kansas State in 1995 to take over as head coach at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). He guided the Bears to a 21-23 record in four seasons, including their first winning mark in three years in 1996 at 7-4.
Miller followed Snyder to K-State in 1989, serving as the program’s offensive coordinator as well as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. After two seasons, he was elevated to assistant head coach for the 1991 season. Later that year, Miller helped the Cats post their first winning season in nine years at 7-4. Miller coached six all-league players from 1989 to 1994, including two-time picks Chad May – who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings upon graduation – and Michael Smith.
Miller began his career in 1972 when he became head coach at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Iowa. In 1975, he left to become the defensive coordinator at Eagle Grove High School in Eagle Grove, Iowa. He then served as head coach at Eagle Grove from 1977-78.
A native of Marengo, Iowa, Miller played and graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1972 and received his master’s degree in physical education in 1976. Miller is married to the former Jan Schafbuch. The couple has three sons, Troy, Todd and Tad, a daughter-in-law, Maria (Tad’s wife), and two grandsons, Gabriel and Benjamin.
Due in part to Miller’s co-directing of an offense and tutelage of quarterbacks, K-State has earned seven-consecutive bowl berths, the longest stretch by K-State since advancing to 11-straight bowl games from 1993 to 2003.
The latest Miller protégé is Jesse Ertz, who in 2016 became just the third quarterback in school history to pass for 1,500 yards and rush for 1,000 yards, joining Ell Roberson (2002) and Collin Klein (2011). Additionally, the Mediapolis, Iowa, product was one of just four signal callers in the nation to accomplish the feat.
Ertz helped the Wildcats set the school record in yards per rush as he ranked fifth in school history and first among quarterbacks by gaining 5.53 yards per carry on the way to the school’s 15th 1,000-yard season. Ertz’s 1,012 rushing yards in 2016 were the third most by a quarterback in K-State history and fifth most in the country.
Thanks to the coaching of Miller, Ertz was more efficient in the passing game toward the end of the year as he was on the front end of two of the school’s longest 15 pass plays in the final two games – an 83-yarder at TCU and a 79-yarder against Texas A&M in the 2016 Texas Bowl, the latter setting a K-State bowl record. Ertz threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in addition to 67 rushing yards and two scores in the Texas Bowl en route to being named the MVP, the first Wildcat quarterback to earn the nod since Roberson in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
Kansas State only threw five interceptions on the year to rank fourth in the country and set the school record for a 13-game season. Ertz threw four of those picks as his career interception percentage of 1.52 ranks as the lowest in school history entering the 2017 season.
As a team, Miller helped direct an offense that ranked 10th nationally in red-zone offense, 22nd in rushing offense, 20th in time of possession and tied for 22nd in both third- and fourth-down conversions.
Another native Iowan quarterback, Jake Waters, found success under Miller as he turned the community-college product into one of the best quarterbacks in program history. The 2014 season saw Waters break the school records for total offense (3,985) and passing yards (3,501) as he ranked 13th and 15th nationally in those categories, respectively. Waters went on to earn All-Big 12 honors while being named a semifinalist for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards.
Waters also set the K-State records for season (65.99) and career (64.08) completion percentage, career yards per attempt (9.09) and career passing efficiency (155.6). He also left K-State ranked second in school history in career passing touchdowns (40) and yards (5,970) despite playing in just 26 games over his two-year career.
Thanks to Miller’s guidance of Waters, K-State ranked in the top 25 nationally in several categories during the 2014 season including passing efficiency (11th), completion percentage (12th), red zone offense (14th) and passing offense (16th).
In 2012, Miller tutored a Heisman Trophy in Klein as the signal caller guided K-State to an 11-2 record and the school’s second BCS Bowl berth. Klein was also the 2012 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner, a finalist for the Maxwell and Manning awards and Walter Camp Player of the Year, while he was named an All-American by numerous organizations. Under Miller’s guidance, Klein improved upon or established 34 career, season or single-game top-10 marks in K-State history, including eight school records. He also became the only quarterback from a Power 5 school in the BCS era (since 1998) to rush for at least 20 touchdowns and pass for at least 10 scores in multiple seasons, while he broke the FBS record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in consecutive seasons.
Miller co-directed a 2012 offense that saw Klein set a new Big 12 record and NCAA record by a quarterback with 27 rushing touchdowns. Klein surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season as well, and became one of the nation’s top players in 2011 under Miller’s guidance. K-State maintained one of the top offenses in the Big 12 in 2011 en route to a 10-3 record and a berth in the 2012 Cotton Bowl.
With K-State needing to break in a new starting quarterback for the 2013 season, the transition was seamless due to Miller’s guidance of K-State’s 1-2 punch of Waters and Daniel Sams, which combined to rank eighth nationally in yards per completion (14.83) and 13th in passing efficiency (155.72). Additionally, K-State was fine-tuned on third downs by leading the Big 12 and ranking 13th nationally at 48.8 percent.
Waters started all 13 games and played especially well when K-State won six of its final seven games as he went 83-of-138 for 1,433 yards and 14 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions down the stretch. His 2,469 yards on the year ranked 10th in school history, and he ranked sixth in K-State history with 18 touchdown passes. Waters, who was a Second Team All-Big 12 selection by Phil Steele, was also one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country as his 15.53 yards per completion ranked fourth in the NCAA and his 156.84 quarterback rating was 14th. Sams earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors as he rushed for 807 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns.
Quarterback uncertainty crept up again in 2015 when Ertz started the season under center but went down with an injury on the first offensive play of the season. Miller was able to coach up a pair of players in Joe Hubener and wide receiver/quarterback Kody Cook as the duo helped guide the Wildcats to three wins in the final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible. K-State’s quarterbacks combined to finish 18th nationally in yards per completion (14.12), including a 14.02 mark by Hubener to finish 17th individually. Hubener, whose final year was 2016, left as the 20th quarterback in school history to pass for 2,000 career yards.
Hubener was also effective in the running game, finishing third nationally among quarterbacks with 13 rushing touchdowns. Thanks in large part to the running abilities of Hubener and Cook, K-State ranked second nationally in red zone offense by converting on 94.5 percent of its opportunities, including a 25-for-25 mark over the final seven games of the season.
In 2010, Miller helped the Wildcat offense average 33.6 points per game en route to the program’s first bowl appearance since 2006. K-State was also ranked among the top 10 teams in the country in total red zone efficiency and No. 1 nationally in touchdown percentage in the red zone. The Cats’ 47-percent conversion rating on third down ranked second in the league, while they were also the least penalized offense in the Big 12. Quarterback Carson Coffman recorded the fifth-highest efficiency rating in school history in 2010 after completing 65-percent of his passes for a passing efficiency rating of 143.1.
In 2009, Miller ushered in a new quarterback as Grant Gregory took over the offense and led the Cats to a 6-6 mark and a second-place finish in the Big 12 North. Behind Gregory’s leadership, K-State was one win away in the final game from advancing to the Big 12 Championship.
Prior to coming back to K-State in 2009, Miller was the offensive coordinator at San Diego State from 2006-08. In his final season there, the Aztecs were led by two redshirt freshmen in quarterback Ryan Lindley and wide receiver Vincent Brown. Lindley threw for 2,653 yards and ranked 40th nationally in total offense, while Brown, an All-Mountain West selection by Phil Steele, ranked 44th nationally with 5.33 receptions per game and hauled in 64 catches for 631 yards and five touchdowns in 2008.
In 2007, the Aztecs ranked 28th nationally in passing offense, throwing for over 3,000 yards, while SDSU also led the Mountain West Conference in red zone offense, scoring nearly 90-percent of the time. Following the season, his quarterback, Kevin O’Connell, was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
One of the first hires made by Snyder when he first came to K-State in 1989, Miller returned to Manhattan in 2001 as offensive coordinator for his third stint on the staff after serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State for the 2000 season.
Miller has played a major role in the building of two major college programs, first at Iowa under the legendary Hayden Fry from 1978-88 before becoming a member of Snyder’s original Kansas State coaching staff. He has coached in 19 bowl games, including 11 at Kansas State.
Miller returned to Kansas State in 1999 to serve as a graduate assistant, helping the Wildcats to a third consecutive 11-win season and a Big 12 North Division co-Championship. After a year at Oklahoma State, he returned to Manhattan in 2001 to serve as the assistant director of football operations before being elevated to defensive ends coach in 2002.
Miller began his second stint as the school’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2003. He helped the Wildcats rank ninth nationally in both scoring and rushing offense and 17th in total offense en route to capturing their first conference championship in nearly 70 years. The offense was one of just seven in the country to average over 200 yards per game in both rushing and passing. Miller was instrumental in developing Roberson at quarterback, who at one time was the school’s all-time leader in total offense and passing touchdowns.
With the opportunity to run his own program, Miller left Kansas State in 1995 to take over as head coach at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). He guided the Bears to a 21-23 record in four seasons, including their first winning mark in three years in 1996 at 7-4.
Miller followed Snyder to K-State in 1989, serving as the program’s offensive coordinator as well as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. After two seasons, he was elevated to assistant head coach for the 1991 season. Later that year, Miller helped the Cats post their first winning season in nine years at 7-4. Miller coached six all-league players from 1989 to 1994, including two-time picks Chad May – who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings upon graduation – and Michael Smith.
Miller began his career in 1972 when he became head coach at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, Iowa. In 1975, he left to become the defensive coordinator at Eagle Grove High School in Eagle Grove, Iowa. He then served as head coach at Eagle Grove from 1977-78.
A native of Marengo, Iowa, Miller played and graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1972 and received his master’s degree in physical education in 1976. Miller is married to the former Jan Schafbuch. The couple has three sons, Troy, Todd and Tad, a daughter-in-law, Maria (Tad’s wife), and two grandsons, Gabriel and Benjamin.
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