MANHATTAN, Kan. – Del Miller, a mainstay on Kansas State’s football coaching staff under Bill Snyder for 20 years, announced his retirement from the coaching profession Monday. Miller will remain on staff as a quality control coach through the end of his current contract, which expires in May.

Miller, who has tutored some of the best quarterbacks and coached during some of the Wildcats’ most memorable seasons in school history, has helped K-State accumulate 150 wins, 12 bowl appearances and two Big 12 Championships during his tenure in Manhattan. During his 45-year career that spanned from high school head coach to FBS assistant and coordinator to head coach at Missouri State, Miller has left an indelible mark on thousands of student-athletes at all levels.

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity I’ve had here at Kansas State,” Miller said. “I’ve enjoyed my time with many players that I’ve coached through the years. They are the guys that make it worthwhile. I certainly want to express my thanks to Coach Snyder for the opportunity he presented me in 1989.

“I think we’re at a point where we have a very stable situation in terms of quarterbacks coming up,” Miller continued. “We have an experienced quarterback coming back, and the stable of quarterbacks is solid for quite some time. I think the next coach will have some people to work with. I thought this was a good time because most of our players are coming back, so that transition can work very smoothly.”

Miller was the first assistant coach hired by Snyder at Kansas State in 1989, helping turn the Wildcats from one of the losingest programs in college football history into an annual postseason participant and conference-title contender.

“I am very grateful to Del for staying with us as long as he has. He is a major contributor to the foundation of Kansas State Football as we know it today,” Snyder said. “Having been the very first assistant coach hired for us in 1988 and still with us today, speaks volumes. Del left the program for four years to serve as a head coach but came back to us shortly thereafter because this was where he wanted to be.

“Del has been a great contributor to our program, our University and our community,” Snyder continued. “He is well received by his peers and our players and represented our program as a committed, loyal, hard-working, caring, disciplined and responsible coach. Unfortunately, it was initially reported inaccurately, suggesting that he was asked to leave. That was a totally false report. In fact, I was greatly surprised when he came in to tell me about his retirement plans. He and his wonderful wife, Jan, and sons Todd and Tad will be dearly missed.”

During his time at K-State, Miller has tutored a Heisman Trophy finalist in Collin Klein (2012) in addition to five quarterbacks that earned all-conference honors – Chad May (1993 and 1994), Ell Roberson (2003), Klein (2011 and 2012), Daniel Sams (2013) and Jake Waters (2014). Klein was the 2012 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and also earned multiple All-America honors.

Under Miller’s watch, K-State has set 12 school passing records as a team, while K-State quarterbacks have put their names atop the record book in 46 categories.

Miller ended his coaching career on a high note but hasn’t left the cupboard bare, tutoring junior Jesse Ertz, who was the MVP of the 2016 Texas Bowl. Ertz was one of three quarterbacks in school history to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 1,500 yards, while he was one of only four in the nation to accomplish the feat during the 2016 season. The fellow Iowan recorded the school’s 15th 1,000-yard rushing season and finished third in school history among signal callers in single-season rushing yards. Ertz was recently named one of the top-25 returning players in the Big 12 by ESPN.com.

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 coming to K-State. 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. Following his departure from Springfield, Miller served as a graduate assistant at K-State in 1999 and the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State in 2000 before returning to Manhattan the next year to serve as the assistant director of football operations.

Miller got back on the field in 2002 coaching the defensive ends and was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2003-05.

Following Snyder’s retirement from K-State in 2005, Miller became the offensive coordinator at San Diego State from 2006-08 and returned to Kansas State when Snyder came out of retirement in 2009.

Miller began his coaching career in 1972 when he was named 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, before serving as head coach at Eagle Grove from 1977-78.

A native of Marengo, Iowa, Miller played and graduated from Central College in Pella, Iowa. Miller and his wife, Jan, have three sons, Troy, Todd andTad, a daughter-in-law, Maria (Tad’s wife), and two grandsons, Gabriel and Benjamin.

– k-statesports.com –

 RYAN LACKEY

Asst. Director/Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Freshman Shardia Lawrence leaped to a new K-State triple jump record in Arkansas, while six more Wildcats recorded personal bests in Iowa Saturday, to conclude a weekend of split squad competition at both the Tyson Invitational and Iowa State Classic.

Lawrence’s leap of 13.75m/45-01.50 helped her surpass Chaytan Hill, who held the school record for 13 years after setting the previous school best of 13.65m/44-09.50 at the Big 12 Championships in 2004. The freshman’s mark is currently the top jump in the Big 12 Conference and the third-best mark in Division I this season.

“Obviously, there were some good individual performances today,” Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto said. “We had some folks coming off injuries that performed well, which is encouraging going into the conference meet. We are also behind in some areas from where we should be, so we have some fine tuning to do over the next couple of weeks.”

K-State’s rookie triple jumper started off competition in Arkansas in fine fashion, opening with a personal-best jump of 13.50m/44-03.50 the first time down the runway. She bested that mark by nine centimeters on her second attempt, pulling within six centimeters of the school record with a leap of 13.59m/44-07, before eclipsing the record on her third attempt. The St. Catherine, Jamaica native went on to finish in second place behind Florida’s Yanis David, who won with a leap of 13.93m/45-08.50 on the final attempt of the competition, a mark that ranks second in the country at this point of the season.

K-State newcomer Konstantina Romaiou also recorded a personal best in the triple jump, finishing in 10^th place with a leap of 12.47m/40-11. That mark was recorded on her final attempt after battling back from a first-attempt foul. Fellow freshman triple jumper Javier Lowe, jumping for just the second time as a Wildcat, recorded a personal best in the men’s section of the event with a jump of 15.48m/50-09.50, which he nailed on his first attempt.

For the second consecutive day, K-State turned in strong marks at the Iowa State Classic as well. Junior Christoff Bryan, jumping for just the third time this season, dominated the men’s high jump with a final mark of 2.20m/7-02.50 on his final attempt at the height. Bryan had three attempts at 2.25m/7-04.25, but could not clear the bar.

Fellow jumper Angelo Gordon fouled his first two attempts in the triple jump in Ames, but a big leap of 14.44m/47-04.50, his eventual best mark in the series, propelled him into the finals where he finished in seventh place. Thrower Brett Neelly was the only other Wildcat in action in the field on Saturday, finishing in fourth place in shot put with a toss of 17.87m/58-08.50.

On the track, sophomore Ranae McKenzie used a huge personal-best run of 54.18 in the 400-meter dash to finish in second place out of 43 racers. Her mark moves her to sixth on the school’s all-time list, overtaking Michelle Maxey’s time of 54.81. Freshman Justin Davis also recorded a personal best in the 400-meter dash, running 49.36 to finish in 31^st place.

The 800-meter provided another talking point from Ames, as three Wildcats recorded new personal bests. Senior Marija Stambolic used her new personal-best time of 2:09.53 to win the fifth heat of the event and finish in 19^th place overall, moving her to seventh on the school’s all-time list.

Sophomore Kurt Loevenstein finished third in heat six with a personal-best 1:50.51, good for ninth on the school’s all-time list, to finish in 20^th overall. Freshman Travis Hodge won his heat and finished in 34^th place overall after crossing the finish line in 1:52.20, his new personal best.

Mile runner Sam Oxandale also had a huge day on the track, making up six spots in the final half mile to finish in sixth place in heat three and 22^nd overall with a personal-best time of 4:12.77, more than five seconds faster than his previous personal best.

K-State also saw three freshmen 60-meter hurdlers advance to the finals in the event, led by Nina Schultz, who qualified with a time of 8.51 before finishing in third place overall with a final mark of 8.46. Ariel Okorie crossed the finish line in the finals in 8.59 to finish in sixth place, while Lauren Taubert finished in eighth place with a time of 8.87.

The Wildcats return home for their final indoor meet before the Big 12 Championship as the team hosts the Steve Miller Open on February 17 in Ahearn Field House.