Houston Miller already has scholarship offers to play at two different ACC schools, but he isn’t stopping there. Ever since wrapping up his junior season at Keller High School near Dallas, Texas, Miller has ramped up his workouts to become an even more sought-after recruit.
Miller hired a professional trainer to make him a better athlete and, therefore, a better football player. As soon as his season ended, he got busy in the gym and on the field, trying to capitalize on every opportunity to improve. He said that he’s already starting to reap the benefits of that hard work.
“I have a personal trainer, and the guy is incredible. He’s really changed my body speed and my general body composition,” Miller said. “He’s made everything about me faster, quicker, stronger — everything. He’s dropped my times, made me faster. He’s just done some phenomenal things.”
The hope is that, by putting in the work now, Miller will give himself a plethora of college options. Of course, he already has a pair in the fold. This fall, he collected offers from both Boston College and Duke. He said an offer from Vanderbilt is inevitable, he just needs to take a visit to campus first.
It’s still too early for Miller to narrow down his list, but he said the two ACC programs will be contenders for his commitment down the road.
“They are two great programs, and I’m definitely going to keep them in mind, of course, like every school that offers me. It’s fair game,” Miller said. “Words can’t describe how hard they work and how good their coaching staffs are. They’ll make boys into men, or young men into real men. All of their academic programs at both of those schools are phenomenal.”
Despite having just two offers, interest is pouring in for the 6-3, 230-pound defensive end. He said he’s been in contact with Baylor, TCU, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and LSU.
Miller is looking for defensive system that can use his versatility. He can play any range of positions from tight end on offense to safety or defensive end on defense. He said the ideal fit for him would be a 3-4 defense where he could play outside linebacker as a stand-up end. He believes he can thrive in a role where he both hounds the quarterback and drops back into coverage.
But more than that, he’s searching for a school where he feels comfortable.
“Whenever I visit a school, I want to feel like I’m at home. I want to feel that I’m a part of the family with that coaching staff. They should basically be a second set of parents to you,” Miller said. “I’m going to be spending the next four years of my life there, and you have to be able to trust the coaches that you’re going to be taken care of.
“You’ve got to feel like you’re with a family that really cares about you. Even if you’re 1,000 miles away, you have to feel like you’re at home.”
Miller knows that the harder he works now, the more chances he’ll have to find that perfect fit. But in addition to the weightlifting and sprinting, he’s preparing himself mentally for college.
Miller carries a 3.7 GPA right now, and he knows that he needs to keep his grades up to earn the opportunities he desires.
“I’ve been trying to be the best at everything I can, especially in the classroom. If you can’t be a football player and have good grades, then nobody wants you. You have to have the grades to be a football player because they want to depend on you to pass in the classroom and pass on the field,” he said. “They want a player they can depend on no matter what, in every aspect — from being a good person in life, to being a student in the classroom, to being a student on the football field.”
Miller is set on being all three of those, and he’s putting in the work now to make sure of it.