Miller wrapping long career on high note
There are some things during Wyatt Miller’s five seasons as a member of the UCF football team that he would rather not talk about.
Of course, after last year’s perfect season, who would want to talk about anything else?
Four years ago this past January, Miller set forth on a journey that would make Orlando his home for the next five football seasons. He couldn’t have imagined what he would experience, but the offensive tackle from Douglas, Ga., wouldn’t change a thing.
“I think a lot of past experiences shape and make who you are today, and I think all that I’ve been through here at UCF has made me the person that I am today and made this team who it is today,” Miller said. “For us to see the lowest lows to the highest highs … and know that we never want to go back to that point …
“We know what it takes to go 13-0 and we know what not to do to go 0-12 and so I think that’s what has to carry on as tradition here is guys that know how to win and what it takes and to keep that tradition going from what we did last year, to keep that mentality, that same mindset that we’re gonna win every game. That’s our approach.”
As Miller said, the peaks and valleys have been extreme. That 0-12 season in 2015 was trying, a test of mental fortitude from which many young men probably would have found it difficult to bounce back. There are plenty of players on the current team, however, who were part of that team. It drove them to last year’s perfect season.
Going 13-0 just two seasons removed from losing every game would have been completely unrealistic to most everyone. Not, however, to the Knights. Led by former coach Scott Frost and his staff, they believed in each other, they believed they could achieve their goals and, in the end, they did just that.
But Miller has one more college football season, which kicked off Thursday night with a romp at UConn, and he says he’s not finished earning accomplishments.
“I’ve kind of had to grow a lot as a leader … and this is kind of like the last hurrah, the cherry on top for my four years that I’ve been here,” said Miller, a 6-foot-4, 206-pound redshirt-senior. “I’ve seen a lot of things and I know what we want to do, as far as a team, and what it takes to get there. And I think we’re on the right path.”
Miller remembers in 2014, a month prior to signing his National Letter of Intent to attend UCF, he already was in Orlando looking to the future. He was invited to the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, which was played at the old Florida Citrus Bowl, and he was somewhat in awe of what was up next.
“I think about it and I’m like, ‘Golly, back then I had like four chin hairs and I thought I was something. … Probably about 250 pounds, 260 pounds,’ ” said Miller, who has started 31 consecutive games at right tackle for the Knights. “But just to see this place grow and for me to grow and how it’s changed me as a person. … I’m extremely thankful for this university and the coaches that have come through here, all three.
“It goes by in a blink and it doesn’t seem like it’s been five [seasons]. It goes by fast.”
Former UCF coach George O’Leary and his staff brought Miller out of the blueberry fields of Coffee County, Ga., to the land of Mickey Mouse. O’Leary visited a recent practice after an invitation from current head coach Josh Heupel, and Miller and a few others were able to speak with their former coach.
“It was good to see Coach O’Leary the other day … the man that gave me the opportunity to play here and who I’m forever indebted to,” Miller said. “A couple of us guys stayed after and kinda talked to him for a little bit. He’s the same guy. He’s a great coach.”