bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 0:14

Welcome to tracking the Cats. You got your co-hosts here today, Bob Saban, along with athletic historian extraordinaire for Western Carolina, Steve White. We are here today to talk with right down the road. We're gonna be talking to Coach Chad Miller, the women's soccer coach, but. Before that we wanna get started and talk a little bit about what was going on last weekend in Western Carolina sports, starting with what could be a better result, which should be a better result. What, oh and three.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 0:48

Yes, yes. Oh, and three Bob, and again, and, and two of those three losses. We've had moments where we looked like a conference contender even last week, you know, and especially in the Garden Webb in the first half. But then, you know, you've gotta play four quarters and you gotta play on both sides of the ball. We know all that and didn't. Didn't turn out well, but yeah, some, some very positive things and also a continuation of a couple of negative things

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 1:20

So the, the puzzling thing to me is we will have amazing defensive plays. We will hold their ground game, we will catch'em behind the line of scrimmage. We will slap that ball out of the air. The next play, the receiver's wide open, or they bust through the middle for a 40 yard or gain or even a touchdown. It's, so that's the frustrating part to me is the inconsistency of.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 1:50

Yeah. Yeah. It's like, you know, you know, you can see that we've got the talent that can do these things, interceptions and open field tackles the, diagnosing plays for a, you know, one series there. Then, you know, it changes. But yeah, that, like you say, that is what's so frustrating. You can see enough good to, to know that this could be a, a good competitive football team in the Southern Conference.

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 2:18

I went into halftime and I was like, do I really want to continue watching?'cause I wasn't there. I was out watching on ESPN Plus and you know, it was the game of the week. So you had the crew there, the TV crew there. I would've rather had Daniel, but Pete Yann entity does a great job. And we just, you know, going into halftime and then kickoff, and we run the kickoff back for a touchdown for the first time in what, since 1920 or 21.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 2:45

Yeah, It's been a while. I can remember a couple. I can remember a couple. Yeah. Yeah, Just, yeah, just like you say, it's just a mixed bag out there and you just, it's enough to keep you interested, but then you get frustrated,

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 3:02

But we, we got you know, the rest of the season now we step into, except for Campbell, the rest of the season is conference. And we got Sanford this week. Sanford's been struggling as well. So one, it's at home. Two, you've got a team that's also ING three. And we, what's the biggest point here for this Saturday?

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 3:22

and, and number three, you didn't get to is Tyler Dickens,

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 3:27

Yes.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 3:27

should, is supposedly announced he will be back at quarterback. Nothing against our other quarterbacks, but let's face it, he wasn't named preseason Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year in some of the All American teams for, for no reason at all. That's because of what he's done in the past, and you just think about what he did to Sanford last year. Extremely. Played extremely well against Sanford

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 3:52

Well, he, he adds a dimension of quarterback scramble. He doesn't need the amount of time that the two new guys did. And I was, I, I, I hate to say it, but I think Isaac Lee did, has done better in those last two games than Ben. Yeah. Yeah. And I was impressed with his play.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 4:12

having Tiger back there is like adding another running back

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 4:15

Exactly. Exactly.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 4:17

only an thrower, a guy that has, I watched him in preseason and last spring and how he has progression, how he can, last year it would, he would take that first read early in the season and, and tuck it and run. Then he got to the point he could maybe make two reads. Now he and appreciate, you could see he is getting three reads and then he wasn't panicking or anything like this. So now we've yet to see that during the season. But hopefully we'll see that Saturday. And then talking about Sanford. Now you gotta remember they West Georgia. They go, who is West Georgia new FCS school and all that stuff. They are very, very good. They've of course beat Sanford and Beat, which I think the team that was playing the best of all the Southern conference teams, east Tennessee State, they beat East Tennessee State last week on the road, I mean, at, at home down in Carrollton. So they they lost, you know I, I just really think that the competition that Sanford has played, you know, when you especially look at Baylor. I mean, that's team actually, they had their moments against that game, so they're not the Sanford that we've seen in the past. But again, they're, they're not really awful. Awful.

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 5:30

Right.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 5:31

a, it's, it is not a gimme, that's for sure. And we've got to play. We know our history with Stanford now. We want. Since 1969 before we won a, a a game in Birmingham. And then we, we had a streak there at home. We couldn't beat them. But that turned around a little bit now, but yeah.

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 5:50

Two wins in a row against Sanford. Hopefully we make it three this Saturday and then Campbell the following week. And you know, that's in Buoys Creek. But you know,

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:01

our kids can't get motivated for that game, there's no way. I

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:05

yeah.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:05

what happened last year, and I will be there, Bob, that's my daughter's birthday weekend, and we're gonna come down and have her birthday party in the tailgate area at Campbell and then watch the game and so forth. So thank man, my wife is a Campbell graduate. Don't tell anybody that, but she is a Campbell. She,

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:24

Didn't know that.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:25

Yes. Yes she is. And she got her graduate degree at Western Carolina, but her master's here, but undergraduate at Campbell

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:33

So you both graduated.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:34

Bowie Creek is the Colory of Eastern North Carolina. That's what everybody says.

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:39

And you both graduated from a school named College Western Carolina College, and it was Campbell College at the time, so.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 6:46

right. Yeah. And the last graduate of Western Carolina College. And you've heard that story that, alphabetically, I was the last one in line to get my diploma. Dr. Dr. Brown, our chancellor says she's heard that it wasn't that it wasn't alphabetical, it was because of grade point

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 7:02

Ranked high is the lowest. Yeah, there you go. But so yeah, I'm out for a couple of weekends taking a vacation with my bride and, but we will get back together and have another track in the cats following the Campbell game and be ready to go that week. Hopefully we'll have a good guest on in two weeks and have more, more positive news, particularly around football. And the other sports will be actually into their Southern conference season as well when you look at volleyball and soccer. And I think Cross Country has a a, it'll be coming up on the Southern Conference, meet for them. So.

squadcaster-bdbc_3_09-16-2025_132741: 7:43

Mm-hmm.

bob-sabin_3_09-16-2025_132741: 7:44

All right, well let's bring on our lady soccer coach

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 7:49

that's Coach Chad Miller from the women's soccer team. Steve, why don't you bring him in?

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 7:56

That's right. Coaches in his 16th season as our head coach of Western Carolina's Women's Soccer Program, two times Southern Conference. Coach of the years guided the Catamounts to back to back Southern Conference, regular season championship and is two days away from sending his team into another six week long nine matchup Southern Conference, regular season, as we say, championship race, and I like that word, championship race. Coach Miller, sort of a mixed bag here. In the early going, the non-conference schedule of portion of your schedule your team appears to have bounced back from those back to back early season losses to Upstate and Georgia Southern. A good win at NC State, A very good tie on the road with a good Lipscomb team, and then back to back wins over on the road at Winthrop and UNC. Well, and as we say, anytime you went on the road, that's a good win. Your thoughts on the season today, just where your team is at this point.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 8:57

Yeah. Excited. Excited for the a conference for sure. I feel like we've dealt with some adversity along the way. I think we've learned some things about ourselves. I think early on, think, of the upperclassmen we're dealing with a bit of an unknown, which for us has been back-to-back champions in a different, different area for them. You know, we've always been the kind of the hunter and now we're the hunted. And I think the pressure of that, really affected us early on with some of the upperclassmen. The up state game and the Georgias Southern game. I felt like we played well enough to win. We just didn't score goals. So kind of regrouped after that and I feel like we're starting to gain our stride now. The course of the season, I mean, you're always dealing with some sort of adversity. You know, injuries happen in sports and so roles are established within the group, and those roles are constantly evaluated and changing. And so I think we're finally at a point where we kind of know where we're, we're at our best and starting to find our strides. So Friday night the win at UNCW was a big win for us on the road. And, you know, last year, Steve, one of our successes was playing really well at home. We went undefeated at home up until the final. This year it's kind of flipped. Now we're undefeated on the road, so we figured out how to be really good on the road and hope to continue that. I mean, we got our two opening conference games on the road Thursday it's at San and then Sunday at Mercer. So hopefully we can continue

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 10:14

Well, your, your home schedule wasn't the easiest. I mean, you know, taking on one of the top five teams in the country and you, you, you were very impressive on the road with wins at NC State. So, but you have a lot of new players. You know, I'm looking at the, the roster over here and it's a fair number of freshmen, sophomores, and a couple of transfers. What do you think about. Your, your new folks.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 10:41

The core of our team, like who we rely on a lot, are the returners. So those, those ladies have been through the battles and have a lot of experience. But in order to be successful, I mean, you have to be strong from top to bottom. And I, I thought last year a big part of our success was our depth within our group. So this year our depth is really good, but really young and so. You know, you kind of deal with that along the way, people learning and, and growing in games at the highest level of competition. So I like our group. I like our young players. I think they've gained experience over the past nine games and I think they're getting better as we go. But we really have, I'm being honest, I mean, our, our starting 11, most of those players are returners and people that have been in the battles. But we, we also sub quite a bit too. So those younger ones have been. A big part of who we are and, and like I said earlier, establishing those roles and figuring out who's best, where has been kind of my challenge here over the past nine games, but I feel like we're kind of in rhythm now and have an

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 11:35

Well, you did have six young ladies out of 11 on the first team preseason Southern Conference role. So that did, that did show experience. I.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 11:47

yeah.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 11:48

Now who's taking maybe the role who is your leader out there right now? I don't know if that's changed from last season or not, but of those returning players who are your right now? I know you hate to say distinguisher between us, but Yeah. Like who is leading your program right now?

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 12:06

Yeah, that was, that was my biggest question coming in Steve to this, this fall was last year, Becca Campbell, Kirsten Hahn, Maggie, Lloyd, we're all, we're three of the best leaders that I've ever coached. And so I knew we had talent coming back, obviously, but that was my big question is leadership. Like who's gonna take the reins and kind of lead the group because they were behind three really, really strong leaders. But all the seniors, we have six of'em that really stepped up and, and done well in that role. I think Bila is kind of the mother head of the group. She kind of takes care of everybody. Is that kind of person. I think Ava, Abby Wise, Isabella kind of lead by example. They don't say a whole lot of times, but they just, their work rate and their intensity is they lead. And then Leanne is really. Probably the one that if, if Leanne says something, the whole group is gonna stop and listen. Leanne does not talk a lot. But when she says things, it's pretty powerful. So I don't think it's one of'em. I think it's the whole group has done an unbelievable job leading our, our team. And yeah, it's worked out. It's worked out really well. That was probably, as a coach, that was my biggest question mark coming into the season, and I think they've handled it extremely well.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 13:15

Yeah, and Leanne doesn't like anyone coming near her home, that's for sure.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 13:22

We don't either. I don't like anybody coming near her home.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 13:25

right. Well coach you open your defense of your regular season championship Thursday down in Birmingham against Sanford. Which in my mind, and I probably do, you, you would think the same thing too, is Wcu u's number one soccer rival right now, the team that your team beat in the Southern Conference championship game last season. Well, the team that beat you in the Southern Conference Championship and then the year before you handled them, tough way to start regular season play against against Sanford on the road.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 13:56

Yeah, this is the or fifth year in a row that the SoCon scheduled us against them in the first game, which. I hope that changes at some point, but challenge, obviously. I mean, playing on the road is, is not easy. And then playing Sanford, who arguably has been kind of the team everybody's been chasing for a really long time and we've kind of knocked them off a little bit the last couple years, but they're still, you know, one of the strongest teams in our conference with a great tradition. And it's gonna take our best, our best effort. To, to go there and get a result in 2023. I really feel like that's what sparked the whole, the whole thing for us, Steve. We went there and we had never beaten Sanford on the road at San in Birmingham we, we got a lead early and hung on for dear life and won that game one Zero and that propelled us the run that we made and then ultimately beating'em in the final. So I have a lot of respect for. For Todd y Sanford, he's one of my best friends in coaching. And it's a tall task, but we're excited about it. I think the lady, this is a game where you don't have to walk in the locker room and say too much. Like they know exactly the, what's happened in the past two years with Sanford and they know the challenge ahead. And I, I think they're excited about it. I don't, our team has, evolved into a team that runs towards challenges, doesn't run away from'em, that comes with winning games and, and a belief in yourself and a belief in the group. And it's just a championship mindset. So we, we challenge our players when we play at Tennessee, that's ranked second in the country that comes here and we play at NC State on the road. We, we don't run away from those challenges. We run towards'em. We're excited about the opportunity, because I think when you're playing at a high level and you put yourself in those positions, those are earned. Those, those, those moments are earned. And so that's our approach for Thursday. We're gonna go in there and give it our best shot and see where it's at. Nothing, no championship will be won on Thursday. It will make life a lot easier if you can, if you can get that

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 15:52

Well, I remember watching. The championship game in Colory last fall. And, and I really felt like we played well enough to win that game. You know, the possession, the shot taking. And Leanne, you know, you mentioned Trudel. She did an amazing job in goal for that game. So I, I think are the, the ladies. Ready to avenge that? Are they thinking about that as as they go down there or what's the mindset on, on that?

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 16:25

I know I think about it every day. That was that was a really hard one for us. Like you said, I think we out outplayed them and really deserved to get, to get the result and we didn't. They, they had one shot on goal and they scored it and I think we had 14. And so yeah, I mean, the returners definitely know that. They definitely feel that. They definitely think about that. young ones probably have no idea. They've been told, told those things, but until you're in that moment, you don't really understand it. So, like I said earlier, I mean, this is a game where I don't have to say a whole lot. I mean, they know what's on the line. They know the intensity of what's about to happen, and I think they're excited about it. I think they're excited to start conference and defend their regular

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 17:02

So, speaking of the young ones, and I know it was your turn, Steve, but I'm thinking about

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 17:06

no, no

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 17:06

how, how do you evaluate and, and, and go after the, the ones coming in from high school and some of your transfers. So what's, what's your process in figuring out bringing in new talent?

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 17:21

Yeah, that's a great question. I, I think the number one, the number one thing that jumps out to you immediately when you recruit somebody is athletics. Athletic ability. I could take my mom, who's, I'm not gonna say her age, she'll get mad at me, but I could take my mom and then sit next to me on the field and she could tell me who the fastest player on the field is. So that's what jumps out to you initially when you're watching a player, is athletic ability. And then secondly, obviously you want to find the best soccer player you can find. How you win games is by talented players. But more importantly than that, and what I think we built our program on is just an unbelievable group of people. And so the hardest part for me trying to figure out who that person's about. And when I go watch a game for 45 minutes, I can tell they're a good athlete. I can tell they're a really good player, but how much do I really know about them as a person? And so that's where visits and camps and things like that come into play where you get to spend time with an individual and find out who they're as a person. We've had multiple ladies that we've seen on the road that were really loved as a player, and they got here on a visit or came for a camp and we're like. Nope, that's not, she doesn't fit who we are. Our team is very much built on a very blue collar mentality. We don't, although we have six first team all conference players and we had defensive player of the year, and we have player of the year on our roster, they don't act any different than anybody else. They'll go pick up water bottles, they'll go pick up balls. So that's really important to me, like the character traits and who they are as people. Is the most important thing. And so that's the hardest part of my job, but I think we get it right more times than we don't. But we just have a group of ladies that love playing the game, that love each other and love to compete. And that's, that's our DNA and that's what's made us who we are. And a long-winded to your question, but the soccer part and the athletic part is a part of it, but the biggest part of it to me is the personal part of it and the people part of it.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 19:13

That's right, I've always been impressed with the academic success of the, your teams. A 3.66 average last year tops in the Southern Conference. Those numbers during my academic career, I didn't. See anything quite, maybe the 0.66, but a bunch of all conference, all district academic team members how does this academic motivation translate to the pitch?

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 19:40

I think it's just character traits. I mean, it's who they are. They, our team is very, very competitive and wants to be the best in everything they do. I know that's kind of cliche to say, but it really is the makeup of the group. They, they pay attention to all the teams on our campus, what their GPAs are. They pay attention to community service hours. They, and they really strive to try to be the best. Best program program at Western and the Southern Conference, and it makes my job really enjoyable because I've, I've surrounded myself with people that are very motivated and wanna be successful. And so the academic part is probably the part that I'm most proud of, to be honest, because I know, I mean, I see day in and day out what they do and what they sacrifice and. Getting to home at three and four in the morning and going to class and doing what they gotta do. I just have the emost respect for them as students. And it's probably, like I said, probably the thing I'm most proud of. Winning championships is great and awesome, but, but producing unbelievable people in our world and great moms and great, great workers is what I'm most proud of.

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 20:47

Well kind of wrapping this thing up stepping in a little bit personal, your bride was a great soccer player herself. What does she think? Is she a tough critic on you or what goes on post match?

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 21:03

Yeah, Stacy is that's how we met actually, we were coaching in the same conference. Against one another. how the whole relationship kind of, that's where we met and built from there. And then when we decided to get married we, we really wanted to have a family and we knew that two coaches is a great life, but a crazy life. And we knew we probably couldn't do that and, and raise a family the way we wanted to. So when I got the job to come back here as the head coach and we got married, got out of coaching and kind of took her way into college athletics. And now she's taken her way to alumni engagement and all that, but. was an unbelievable player and all American in college way better player than I ever was. But she's she loves the game. She's very passionate about it. If you ever come to the game, you'll hear her over me. She's the loudest person in the stadium.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 21:49

Yeah, I have watched her in the stands. I've watched her. She's very animated.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 21:55

She's our team mom. I mean, she's very involved in our, in our program and it's just a great support for me. but she does, I mean, she tells me all the things that she didn't agree with, she thinks that I did wrong. No, we, we watch film together a lot. We talk about game plans and how we're gonna approach the game. And now, now my youngest, Carson, you know, he's grown up at Western. I mean, he is born here in Silva and watched, I don't know how many games in his lifetime, but he, he's following in his mom's footsteps. Like he, he tells me what I do right and what I do

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 22:27

That's great.

chad-miller_2_09-16-2025_130248: 22:29

It's a, it's a family affair. I mean, this program not only means everything to me, but it means everything to my

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 22:35

That's great. Well it's been great having you on again, coach. We appreciate it and I'm sure we'll see you again. Hopefully you're gonna have a great, another great season and we'll get a chance to talk later on this season and, and talk a little bit about some of the successes and where you want to go from there.

squadcaster-bdbc_2_09-16-2025_130252: 22:54

How about the NCAA championship? Yes, that's it. That's where we want to go.

bob-sabin_2_09-16-2025_130253: 22:59

Yes. All right guys, we appreciate it. That about wraps it up for this edition of Tracking the Cats, Bob Saban and Steve White saying so long On behalf of Stanbury Insurance with offices in Silva, Waynesville, Highlands, and now the new office in Clyde, we'll see y'all again in a couple of weeks.