ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

The relationship with ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ offensive coordinator Seth Doege is the reason tight ends coach Josh Miller is in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

When Doege was the offensive coordinator at Marshall last season, Miller was the Thundering Herd’s tight ends coach.

At Purdue in 2023, Doege and Miller worked under former Texas Tech standout quarterback Graham Harrell, who was the Boilermakers’ offensive coordinator. Miller was an offensive analyst at Purdue.

“Everyone has their boys in the profession, but the list of who you would risk your career for is very short and he’s on that short list for me,� Miller said.

Before his lone season at Marshall, Miller served as the offensive coordinator at Saginaw Valley State and led the Cardinals to a 7-4 record in his first season in 2021. Saginaw Valley State ranked third in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring offense (27.6 points) and averaged 311.7 yards per game.

Miller, who briefly coached at Southern Miss this offseason, was hired to replace former tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Matt Adkins, who was dismissed after one season.

Miller inherits an ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ tight ends group that lost Keyan Burnett, a longtime teammate of quarterback Noah Fifita who transferred to Kansas after three seasons at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Dorian Thomas, who transferred to New Mexico, and Roberto Miranda, who signed a professional contract in Germany.

The Wildcats return former San Jose State transfer and senior Sam Olson, who had 13 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns last season, along with redshirt junior and Phoenix native Tyler Powell, redshirt junior John Hart and redshirt freshman Dylan Tapley. Second-year walk-on fullback Kayden Luke is now listed as a tight end.

In the transfer portal, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ added receiver-converted-tight end Cameron Barmore, a sixth-year senior from Mercyhurst, an FCS school in Pennsylvania. Barmore caught 73 passes for 978 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Lakers last season. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ signed three-star Northern California tight end Kellan Ford for its 2025 recruiting class.

Miller recently spoke to the Star about working with Doege, why he chose ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and his perspective of the UA tight ends entering spring football practices later this month. Here’s what Miller discussed:

What jumps out to you about Doege’s offensive play-calling prowess?

A: “What I think every Wildcat fan should be proud of, is his ability to understand who we are as an offense and what we need to do to win games. Everybody has an idea of what they want to do as a coordinator, but you don’t always get to do what you want to do, you do what you have to do in order to win games. I was able to witness that and help him through that during his first year as a coordinator at Marshall last year. For him to do that as a play-caller, it speaks volumes to who he is as a play-caller and who he is as a person, to exhaust all avenues to find solutions for the kids to be successful. As a colleague, I was blown away by that. As a friend, I was very proud to see that.�

What did you learn under Harrell at Purdue?

A: “Obviously Graham and Seth come from the same tree, but what I think is unique is they see it from the similar and are cut from the same cloth. When Graham asked me to come to Purdue, I did some things that brought some freshness to the offense as well and complemented him and the core of the offense and the system. There’s this notion of having to throw the ball every single play, which they did with those guys (at Texas Tech), but it’s more about a mentality and finding ways to give the best players the football.�

What are you looking for in a tight end to excel under your direction?

A: “What I’m looking for in a tight end is No. 1: you’re going to be tough. You have to be tough and what I think is unique about the position, is that you’re asked to be a pass-catcher, you’re asked to be a run-blocker and you’re asked to be a pass-protector, so you’re asked to do all of these different things. In order to do all of those different things, you have to do more. If you think you’re just going to be good, well are you having to do the most out of any other position group? It’s not realistic.

“If you don’t have the right attitude, mentality and toughness to do that, you won’t be successful. From there, we want a guy with athletic ability. You can be the best coach in the world, but if you’re as big and stiff as a 2-by-4, it doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are. Mobility, flexibility and movement skills are a premium. We’ll teach you how to do the rest.�

What do you think about the group overall despite losing a few tight ends?

A: “Got to meet Kellan and his family. Unbelievable human, unbelievable player and I’m excited to get here this summer. He looks and the part and has the movement skills we’re looking for. He has a very bright future here in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. Cam is awesome and I wish we had Cam for more than a year. Athletically, he does what we want a tight end to do. Obviously he’s a converted bigger receiver, but he has the mentality to be successful. He’s my spring project.

“Sam and TP have been awesome. They have that veteran leadership that the room needs and they’ve played a lot of reps. We talked about some things they need to improve on this spring and get ready for the fall. They’ve been great leaders for our unit and they’ve been great leaders for our offense and I expect them to have great springs.�

What excites you about the challenge of coaching at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥?

A: “Coach Brennan is a great human being, so it’s easy to want to play and coach for him. You feel appreciated, so that’s exciting. I believe in what we’re doing. This is a premiere institution that has everything you need to be successful. You’re in a great recruiting area. The state of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is flourishing with top-end recruits and obviously we’re close to California and Texas, which has been good to us as well. There’s no reason for us to not successful. I’m not just happy to be here, I came here to win, too. Looking forward to getting that done.â€�