After making Lakes a model of consistency, Dave Miller goes into the Hall of Fame
Lakes High School football coach Dave Miller is a man of routine. He has coached at Lakes for 34 years, and this fall is going into his 21st season as the head coach of the Lancers. He has been happily married to his wife, Sonia, for 42 years. He eats the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day — a bowl of Kashi cereal with almond milk for breakfast, and for lunch, half a turkey sandwich with an apple and a side salad.
For Lakes, wins on the football field have been equally regular during Miller’s coaching career. During his time as the program’s head coach, Lakes has compiled a 178-51 record, winning 11 league titles and qualifying for the state tournament 18 times, reaching the championship game in 2000, the state semifinals in 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2015 and the state quarterfinals in 2005, 2011 and 2016.
Last month, the Washington State Football Coaches Association inducted Miller into its Hall of Fame, along with Elma High’s Jim Hill.
“It’s a big honor,” Miller said. “It’s really cool to get recognized and be involved in that group. It was a neat night. Once I got the call, just to reflect on all the memories and all the people involved in it — any individual recognition is the result of a lot of people’s efforts. It’s been pretty cool to realize you reached one of the pinnacles in your career.”
Miller started his coaching career as an assistant at Clover Park High School in 1979, where he spent seven years. He went to Lakes in 1986, where he served as the offensive coordinator until 1999, when he became the program’s head coach.
He helped Lakes to the Class 3A state championship in 1997, when Lakes beat Ferndale in the championship game, 21-17. During his hall of fame speech, Miller spent most of the time thanking people — his former players, assistant coaches, his wife, the administration at Lakes. And his son Drew, offensive coordinator at Eastside Catholic, presented Dave at the banquet at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Renton.
“He did a great job on that,” Miller said. “It was just amazing, brought a tear to my eye to hear what he had to say.”
Miller, 60, said the student-athletes at Lakes have made the school the ideal fit for him all these years.
“The type of kid we get — we get kids that have big hearts, that are easy to build relationships with,” Miller said. “They love each other; they’re welcoming to other kids.”
Lakes draws from a lot of military families stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which means the program has a higher turnover rate than most teams around the state.
“A kid comes from Kentucky into Fort Lewis and within a day or two, he’s spending the night or hanging out at someone else’s house — they’re just best friends,” Miller said. “They just welcome them in. … Our kids give us all they’ve got. We have a diverse population, culturally and socio-economically. … They want to be coached. They’re not entitled, not standoffish. They buy into what you’re trying to help them with.”
Miller has coached some greats and some players who have spent time in the NFL, including Reggie Williams (UW, Jacksonville Jaguars), Jermaine Kearse (UW, Seattle Seahawks) and Zach Banner (USC, Pittsburgh Steelers). But to Miller, that hasn’t been the most rewarding part of being at the program’s helm.
“We’ve had kids in our program that have been autistic, had special needs,” Miller said. “We’ve had kids that have gone onto the NFL. For me, I wanted to have the program bring out the best for every level of kid. It’s not just about the few NFL guys you’ll have in 40 years. We want to have something for everybody. Giving your best, not just in the field but in the classroom. At home, being a good son and a good brother. That’s what we preach every day. All those basic values.”
As of now, Miller said he’s still in good health and has no plans to walk away from coaching anytime soon. And no, don’t count on him to take a different job, either.
“I really feel like I wanted to have a legacy in one place, stay at one place for a long time,” Miller said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. There’s still a lot to do, a lot of lives to help. … I have no plans to stop anytime soon.”
The one thing missing from Miller’s head coaching resume is a state championship. But to him, that’s not the true measure of success.
“To me, the measure of your success is your consistency over time,” Miller said.
Only one team in the state in each classification can end their season with a win. The journey has always been more important to Miller.
“We just try to give kids the support they need,” he said. “They’re developing and they need support. Just might be someone believing in them or caring for them or being there for them. Just that support they need to build their confidence and believe in themselves.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
