Eddies coach Miller keeps his options open
Miller aims to coach in either MLS, return to Europe or lead Canadian men’s team
Three decades later, Colin Miller’s professional soccer dream is alive and kicking.
It’s been a long and interesting journey for the FC Edmonton coach, who first burst onto the Canadian soccer scene as a defender in the early 1980s. Now Miller is continuing to write a Canadian soccer success story, thanks in large part to a no nonsense, hardworking approach.
And while plenty has gone into shaping Miller into the face many believe will one day, if not soon, lead the Canadian men’s national team, you need to start from the beginning to understand the rising coaching star.
“Our family immigrated to Vancouver in 1975. My dad was a coal miner and my mom worked at a mental hospital as a nurse, so we were very much a ham and egg family,” recalled Miller, who was just 10 when the family made the move from his native Scotland.
“There was no fluff in the Miller family. We emigrated as a family of six, with $1,100 dollars to our name, so I’m well aware of how humble my upbringing was.”
Miller’s first big break in the world of pro soccer came as an 18-year-old with the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League back in 1982.
From there, Miller’s soccer journey has taken him everywhere from a stint with Rangers F.C. in Glasgow, to becoming the first Canadian coach in the English Premier League back in 2007 with Derby County — an experience Miller recalls with great fondness.
“All of a sudden I got a phone call from (Derby manager) Billy Davies … and he asked me if I’d be interested in coming back (to Europe),” Miller explained. “Part of my remit was to work with the first-team guys Monday to Friday, but to go and do the last scouting report on who we would play the following week, so if we were playing Chelsea on Saturday I would go to Stamford Bridge and do the third report.
“I went to every English Premier League ground, scouting players and it was just a dream job. Working with the class of the staff that we had at Derby was a dream come true, to be honest.”
With time as a Canadian national team assistant and even interim head coach under his belt prior to his job with Derby, Miller wasn’t a stranger to the coaching ranks prior to his taste of the EPL, but it was his time with Derby that solidified his desire to follow coaching as far as it could take him.
“I’ve committed to the game. I’m a lifer in the game, hopefully I’m a lifer,” Miller said. “I’m committed to being the best manager I can possibly be and hopefully having an influence on the game in North America, or Europe. You just never know what’s around the corner.”
“I do it because I love it. I absolutely love it. I enjoy coming to the park everyday, working with players and seeing them get better as not only football players, but people as well.”
Miller has developed into a star in the Canadian coaching ranks, thanks in part to some formative experiences as a young player under coaches like former national team assistant Alan Errington and Blizzard head coach Bob Houghton, who both taught him above all else that dedication is irreplaceable.
“I think if the coach is passionate about what he’s doing and if the coach shows that he believes in his players, he’ll get more out of them,” Miller explained. “If you look at our guys here, they’re motivated every day.”
Eager to express his appreciation and excitement to be guiding FC Edmonton, who take on the NASL leading Carolina RailHawks Sunday at 2 p.m. at Clarke Field, Miller is hoping he’s far from done his coaching climb.
“You’re allowed to dream and I have a few dreams. I have a dream of being the head coach of our men’s national team,” said Miller, who’s served two stints as the team’s interim head coach over the years.
“I have the dream of, and maybe I could get in trouble for saying this, but I’d love to be the Vancouver Whitecaps head coach one day and I’d love to be the manager of the Glasgow Rangers, or work at that level of football again. You should have (goals) if you’re in the coaching game.
“I think every coach should have those aspirations and that’s what drives me forward (is) maybe one day I could be working at the MLS, back in Europe or at the national team level. I’m not intimidated by anything now.”