Trent Miles Q & A

 

 

The Signal– When did you realize you wanted to be a football coach?

 

Trent Miles– When I realized I wasn’t good enough to play in the NFL, probably around my sophomore year in college.

 

TS- What is the best part of being a head coach?

 

TM– Dealing with the young men. Recruiting. Getting the chance to hopefully effect a young man’s life and give them some direction, more direction, other than what their parents were giving them on how to succeed in life.

 

TS– You came from Indiana State where the first couple of years were kind of a struggle.  The next three were pretty good.  Was there ever a time in the first two years that you just thought what have I gotten myself into here?

 

TM–  No.  I knew that the plan would work.  We just had to have the patience to see it through.  You had to just keep sticking with your guns and what you believed in and get the people in that believed in it also and go from there.

 

TS– What enticed you about Georgia State during your hiring process?

 

TM– One, it’s a great University in a great area.  It’s in the hot bed of recruiting.  You’ve got a university plan that has great vision for the future with President Becker and Cheryl Levick and where they want to take Georgia State Athletics.  I think it fits my beliefs and where I want to go.  You’re going Division I, into the Sun Belt.  And, you’re in Atlanta.  Hard to beat it.

 

TS– How impressive is the high school talent in the state of Georgia?

 

TM- It’s excellent.  You take Georgia and Texas and California and Florida and it’s hard to beat that.  There’s more Division I, BCS conference players signed out of Georgia last year than I think any state.  And there’s enough to go around if you do your homework and do your job.  There are some really good football players here that are well coached.  These high school coaches here in Georgia do a great job of preparing their young men for the next level and getting them taught on their fundamentals and techniques.

 

TS– What is the easiest thing to sell recruits on about Georgia State?

 

TM– The people.  The location. The university’s academic reputation. We have people with character and integrity and people that want to develop you as a total student athlete, not just a football player.  That’s the number one thing.  Everybody’s going to have pretty uniforms and a stadium and a library and books and a weight room and all that kind of stuff.  The people are what set it apart.

 

TS– And the toughest?

 

TM– Of course there are going to be tough recruiting battles because there are teams that have been playing football for a hundred years or more and have tradition. We’re a three-year program getting ready to be in our fourth year of existence and our first year in Division I.  So there’s not a lot of tradition established yet.   It’s really not a negative, it’s a positive.  Because the young men that are coming in can help establish our own traditions here and our own history.  They’re part of a special class.  I really don’t think there are any negatives to recruiting here.

 

TS– Have you gotten a chance to look at any of Georgia State film and are there any players that excite you?

 

TM– I see a little bit here and a little bit there.  I’m more concerned about getting a chance to deal with them and evaluate them when we get them out there in spring ball and winter conditioning. We haven’t had any meetings with football talk. When I’ve meet with the players it’s just about them as people.  Where they’re from and what’s their family background.  More of a personal deal.  We’ll have plenty of time in the second semester to start dealing with the football aspect.

 

TS– What are your thoughts on playing home games in the Georgia Dome?

 

TM– I think it’s a great thing.  You know how many young men in the state of Georgia want to make it to the Georgia Dome?  And to be able to say that is your home field?  I think it’s great.  And if we do our job and get people in the stands and get our student body in there to enjoy the environment, it will be a home field advantage for us.

 

TS– Tell me about Coach Minter and the defense he plans on running.

 

TM– He’s going to be very aggressive on defense.  He’s an excellent teacher, excellent role model, relates well with his players.  It will be 3-4 and 4-3 combined with the same principles.  An over and under front with a hybrid type guy that can stand up and drop or stand up and rush to be the fourth rusher.  You’ll see multiple things on defense and a lot of blitz packages.

 

TS– Tell me about the offense.

 

TM– We call it a multiple offense.  But it’s whatever you want to call it.  If we have to run it to win, we’ll run it to win.  If we have to throw it to win, we’ll throw it to win.  We’ll use multiple personnel groups, multiple formations, and the same base concepts.

 

TS– Is there anything besides winning that you and your players can do to raise interest in the program, especially on campus?

 

TM– Winning encompasses a lot of things.  I know everybody’s all about wins on the field.  But before you can ever start winning on the field you have to win the classroom, you have to win in society, you have to win in other aspects of your life before the winning on the field starts.  I’m sorry if that depresses people because of the process.  But winning doesn’t just happen.  It’s a process that when you’re starting a program you have to go through and there are certain steps you have to take.  And to get to that final step of competing for championships you have to do all the other things.  I think we’re at that stage where we’re trying to get the other things done first.

 

TS– How long before Georgia State becomes a legit championship contender?

 

TM– You can’t put a time frame on that.  There’s no way of telling how long it’s going to take.  What it is going to take is a whole group effort.  It’s going to take the players, the coaches, the student body, the alumni, the boosters, and the administration.  It’s going to take everybody working to win in all aspects to get those results.

 

TS– Is there anything you would like to add?

 

TM– We want to find a way to get student support.  I want out team to be involved in community functions, campus functions, and different things that go on around campus.  We want to turn it into an event, a Saturday football game at Georgia State.  I want the students to be proud of the way we play, win or lose.  And I want them to support us and come out and cheer for us.  But at the same time I want there to be a good relationship between our players and the rest of the student body because our players are part of the student body.

 

You can follow Trent Miles on Twitter @CoachTrentMiles .