Assistant coaches, relationships help Miller to 300 wins

Nathan Miller won his 300th game as a high school baseball coach with a victory over Ft. Madison June 11.

Even though he has amassed 300 victories, he doesn't remember the first one, the 100th, the 200th or the 300th. 'The reason I don't is because it's about the development of the kids,” Miller said. 'The wins are great, but it's more about putting them in situations where we can compete for conference titles and state berths.”

There are many things that go into building one's way to milestone wins.

Miller had a very specific answer to the question of how he was able to get to that many victories.

'One, I have had a lot of great assistant coaches. Two, it's about the kids,” Miller said.

Some coaches are more focused about offense while some are more about defense. Some coaches are more about hitting, some are more about pitching.

'In my opinion, it doesn't matter about the X's and O‘s on the field; if you don't have a relationship with the kids built up, nothing else really matters,” Miller said. 'I am fortunate to have had great kids over the last 15 years that have bought in to what we are doing. I have had assitants that have been great about teaching what we are doing.”

He has been a head coach for 15 years and won a state title in just his third year at the helm of a program, taking Iowa Mennonite School to a Class 1A championship in 2007.

He has a record of 311-181 overall for a 63.2 winning percentage, racking up an 81-19 record in three years at IMS. He has coached at Washington, where he graduated in 1998, for 12 years with a 230-162 mark.

Miller nearly always uses the word 'we” when talking about coaching. He only uses 'I” when talking about mistakes.

At IMS, Bob Dirksen and Aaron Schrock were assistants. At Washington, Ryan Levy, Steve Vetter, Clint Gingerich, Mark Weidman, TJ Rausch, Jared Henry, Nathan Matthes, Ben Obermann, Jacob Garrett and Michael Ellingson are or have been.

'We go as coaches to the national convention every year and learn a lot of things,” Miller said. 'We get a lot of insight into the game, but we also have a lot of great conversations among ourselves. We grow as a staff. I really think that is an important piece to the tight-knit family that we have here.”

A family doesn't just happen in sports, it is built on trust and respect. Building relationships has resulted in people wanting to play for Miller. When he started at Washington, he had 24 kids out for baseball in eighth grade through 12th grade. That number has climbed into the 60s and the school has added a freshman schedule to the junior varsity and varsity slate.

'It's important to get the kids to understand the type of baseball we want to play here, so the youth programs are important,” Miller said.

Any coach will say they don't remember the wins as easily as the losses. Losses stick with them more.

'I made a very bad coaching decision in ‘06 that prevented us from going to state that year,” Miller said. 'I still relive that same play every single day.”

The game to go to state was tied, seventh inning, runner on second and a ball is hit to the right side.

'I should've sent the runner home and I didn't do it,” Miller said. 'The throw to home is 15 feet up the line. We are the home team, so we score there and game is over, but I held him up.”

A short pop fly followed, then an infield pop-up and the inning is over. IMS lost in the next inning

'You live and you learn. I was 26 years old,” Miller said. 'I was a little too cautious. Sometimes now I think I may be a little too aggressive.”

Miller remembers that play in that game to the last detail, but he doesn't remember most of the triumphs.

Another loss that sticks in Miller's mind was against Dallas Center-Grimes in 2012. DCG was ranked first and went on to win the title in Class 3A.

'We out-hit them 10 to four,” Miller said. 'We had three guys picked off during the game. We were tied going into extra innings. They went on to 10-run rule their opponents in the next two games, so we all felt like that was a real missed opportunity for us. To us, that was the state championship game because of how well we were playing at the time.”

He does remember the three victories at the state tournament for the championship, at least mostly.

'The title game against St. Mary's was a blur because we won by the 10-run rule,” Miller said. 'Our first game at state was a 2-1 win over defending state champions Lenox and the second round was 10-2 and third round was 12-0.”

There are a few Demon wins that were memorable.

'I also think about 2011 when we went to Grinnell for a second-round game and beat them when they were ranked. Then we beat Centerville in the next round at Ottumwa. I remember 2012 when we beat Williamsburg at home to go to state.

He graduated from Washington in 1998, played at Kirkwood Community College for two years, then went to Division II Wayne State in Nebraska, where he became a player/coach after undergoing Tommy John surgery that was performed by the renowned Dr. James Andrews.

He signed a free-agent contract after college and pitched for one season for the Sioux City Explorers in the American Association. His fastball was recorded at 91 miles an hour at its best.

'I was better, partially because my arm was stronger through the rehab process, but also because I was that much older,” Miller said.

He was also much wiser. He learned a lot during those years and still uses some of those lessons in his coaching today.

'I want to make sure I have at least a short conversation with every kid that's on the field every day,” Miller said. 'If I don't, I make a mental note and I make sure I get them the next day. With technology and society the way it is these days, we need to continue to challenge kids. We need to push them to become the best version of themselves and for them to accomplish things they did not think were possible. When players are not doing something to their full potential we need to tell them that.

'When I was a player I was extremely competitive. I'm naturally a competitive guy and wanted to be challenged by my coaches. The coaches that I look up to the most helped to prepare me for life. They found ways to challenge me and push me. Those two things are what I miss the most about playing the game, but I am able to find it in coaching the game.

'Mental toughness is really important in life. We are going to challenge kids that are in our program. We want our guys to leave their high school careers here and become great dads, great husbands and outstanding leaders in society. You have to be mentally tough to do that. You have to have a great work ethic to be that.

'Not every day is going to be easy, so just patting somebody on the rear and saying it's OK is not enough. We want to tell them what they need to do to move forward and grow.

'I think our guys know the reason we challenge them is because we love them. We want the best for them and we want to see them succeed.”