(Editor’s Note: The following is part of ongoing series of articles where Western Carolinian writers profile the lives and careers of coaches before they arrived at WCU.)
Chad Miller, the women’s soccer coach at Western Carolina University, has always had a passion for sports.
“Sports have been my passion my whole life. I have always been interested in sports since I can remember,” Miller said. “I drove my parents crazy always wanting to watch them on TV every minute or beg to stay outside to play something with a ball. Soccer has always been my number one love, but I also played football, beach volleyball, water skiing, basketball, baseball and loved to fish.”
Miller has played soccer since he was 5-years-old.
“My dad was my first coach and I think that lasted one season,” Miller said with a smile.
Miller had an excellent experience growing up, he said. He attended Deltona High School in Deltona, Fla. and was in the first ever graduating class from there.
“My parents were not very into athletics as kids so I’m not sure how I got into it so much, Miller said. “However they were and have always been very supportive of my goals and dreams.”
Like his father, who grew up in the region of Western North Carolina, Miller was drawn to North Carolina from his home in central Florida. He graduated from Pfeiffer University in 1994 with a degree in exercise science and sports medicine.
While in college, Miller coached a club team for two years. Miller’s original college plan flew out the window during those two years.
“The original plan was to get into to physical therapy, but once I started coaching in college I realized this is what I wanted to do. So after graduating I had to decide to stay in North Carolina and try to figure out the coaching thing or go back to Florida and get a real job,” Miller said. ” Lucky for me I chose to stay which didn’t make my parents to happy at the time. I continued coaching my club team and volunteered at the local high school. I got a job as a 911 dispatcher so I could work nights and coach during the day. This went on for five years before I got my first collegiate coaching job.”
Miller has been coaching at the collegiate level for 13 years, and has been coaching in general for 20 years. He arrived in Cullowhee as head coach for the Lady Catamounts in 2010.
Miller got married two years ago to Stacey Radford.
“We ironically met coaching against one another years ago,” Miller said.
Radford played soccer in college and was an All-American at Barton College.
“We have two sons, Thomas who is 4 1/2 and Carson who is 6-months-old and they are the loves of my life,” Miller said.
