SPECIAL: Introducing LU Football Interim Head Coach Calvin Miller

In this special episode of Lion Talk, we feature new interim head football coach Calvin Miller. Coach Miller has been at Langston University for over 15 years, most recently serving as the program's defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Learn more about Coach Miller's playing career, what brought him to LU and why he's been a Lion for so long. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

On April 6th, Lingston University announced that longtime assistant football coach Calvin Miller will serve as the interim head coach of the Lions football team for the 2026-2027 season. Joining me today on this special episode of Lion Talk is Coach Miller. Coach, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

So, Coach, you were officially announced as the interim head football coach recently. Um, how does it feel to be the interim head coach now for the Lions?

SPEAKER_01 0:33

It feels like um It feel great and it feels like a challenge. And uh uh there's so much to I believe to get done. I I feel and from being here for so many years and realizing the needs and and the challenge that we have before us.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

So tell me a little bit about those challenges. You know, what what do you think the you know that you're having to overcome now and that you're the interim head coach?

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Well, uh we were so uh a little bit late getting started, and um we was uh in the um don't know zone for for a period of time for recruiting and also for working out with our student athletes that we have here on campus. And um then coaches uh leaving and and replacing them and hiring an officer coordinator and a defense coordinator and things uh like that, and so then putting it all together and once uh uh announced as an interim, uh getting the young men's uh up well working out and getting them ready for spring football.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

But you feel like you're on the right track now?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Oh yes, oh yes. We we're definitely on the right track.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Absolutely good. So tell me a little bit about your football career. You have uh, you know, back from when you were a player all the way through your coaching career, you have a lot of history in football. So where did you where did you start your um playing career?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

I started my playing career at Mississippi Valley State, which is historical black school. Uh that was in uh 1972 at uh Mississippi Valley, and I was there for a summer section and also for a semester, one semester, and then I transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College, uh, which is close to home. Finished up in Harrison Central High School, which is uh about uh 12 miles from Gulfport, Mississippi, Mississippi. And then uh, but I went to Gulf Coast Junior College, and they just uh uh was coming off on a national championship uh uh run. Uh and uh there was national championships in 1971 and 1972 I transferred there and uh we had a like a nine and two season and great things happened, you know, to uh you know, for our team. We didn't make it to the uh championship, but we uh I I was a selector to the All-Star game, and so uh that encouraged me, and that's what being recruited by you know several schools, but Oklahoma State was there, and so that recruited me and brought me to Oklahoma State University.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Oh, great. So you you finished out your playing career like the c at the collegiate level with OSU, right? Yes, uh-huh. And then you have some professional experience.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Yes, yes. I went from uh OSU to the World Football League. Uh played in Burningham, Alabama, which is at the at the Burningham Balkans, and uh that lead uh was uh a good lead, and then it folded you know before the season was over, and then from there to the Canadian Football League, uh uh Saskatchewan Rough Riders uh the next year, and uh four games, preseason game there, then got traded to Winnipeg Blue Bombers and then wound up playing, uh finished the season in a in a yeah finished that season with Empton Eskimos and then came back the next year and played for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

When did you start getting into coaching?

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Well, I got started getting into coaching. Uh I um after my de debut at uh the CFL, I came back and I worked for the uh Fellowship Christian Athletes, and so I had some professional experience. And then my head football coach, which was at Oklahoma State named Jim Stanley, he had uh took a job with the New York Giants, and the head football coach was Ray Perkins. And so um I I thought my football career was was was over, but I was still I was about 26 years old. Uh then I received a call from Vermont from the New York Giants, and so uh that brought me to the New York Giants, uh, made it to the last cut, but I had a plan in place that if I get if I if I get cut or then make it, I had a uh from some friends of mine that they coached together, played together in the World Football League. They was at Evangel College. And so after I got cut, I went to uh Evangel College, which is in Springfield, Missouri, and started my coaching career. And there I coached the defensive line and I coached four games there, and then I received a call from Ray Perkin again from New York Giants, where some guys got hurt and said, uh, you know, you know, Calvin, I want you to come back. And so uh he called me Ian on Killer. That was my nickname. Say, Killer, I want you to come back and play for New York Giants. And uh I said, Coach, uh I I'm I'm coaching now, and I said if I come back, could I have a no-cooked contract? He said, I can't do that, but I guarantee you that you'll be with it for the rest of the season. So uh that just was just as well. So I returned back to New York Giants and and played football. So I started I coached four years, and then uh and then so uh when I uh finished playing with the New York Giants, I came back and got into petroleum business and then in the petroleum business there for about four or five years. Uh after that I started uh my coaching career and really I started here at Langston University in 1987.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, so so it sounds like coaching was really calling to you because you had, you know, the several opportunities to not coach, but you kept coming back to it.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Right, right. Well, uh in in the petroleum business, you know, it was good, and then the the bottom fell out during when the banks the pin square bank started falling and and they started laying off and things like that. And so uh and it and I'd wanted to move a c a solid career and I got involved in coaching.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Doesn't sound very solid, yeah. Not all the time, right? Right, right, right. So you've you know, like we've said, you've you have an extensive coaching career. It spans over 42 years. You've spent 15 of those years at Langston University. So what makes this university so special? Why have you stayed for so long?

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Well, uh I was here uh back in 87 just for nine months, and then I received a call from my University of Tulsa, uh coach Dave Rader, which was the he was uh uh head coach there, been moved promoted to head coach, and I played with Dave Raider with the New York Giants. And so I went and coached with him. I said, Dave, I just got to to Langston and I said, uh, I don't know if I want to take the job or not. And he said, Well, Calvin, here's an opportunity, and I don't know if it's be with you for I don't know if it'll be there for the next the next year. And so at that time, Ron Aiken was the head football coach here at Langston, and so he encouraged me and you know said, Coach, take a look at it. You know, and it you know, and of course it happened to be spring break time. He said, uh take your spring break, you know, take the job and go and try it for a week. And if you like it, you know, just write it, you know, just give a letter of resignation. If not, you still got your job here at Langston. And so that's what I did. I took the job and then uh I felt like it was gonna be okay. And so I gave my letter of recognition. So that's what started my coaching career at uh and mostly and I was blessed to be at the Division I level for three years at Tulsa. Then Pat Jones called me from uh from there to Oklahoma State, coached with Pat Jones for three years, and then uh uh Pat retired, and so Bob Simmons came in, and so we wanted to move me to a different position and the strength and condition side of it, and I wanted to coach. And so I received the opportunity to go to uh to Kentucky University and coach with Bill Curry, and then coached with him for two years, and then of course uh, you know, we got fired up there, and so I stayed on with, yeah, so I was I was retained by Hal Mommy, and then but for about three months, and then Ocoma State had another opportunity, and so they they uh reached out to me and then and gave me an opportunity to come back to Ocoma State. So uh I came back to Oklahoma State in 1997, and uh we had a fantastic year, and then I stayed until 2001 until I received another call, and then it was a call into my church, and so I um uh Lesk, you know, uh called me in the office and said, Kale, I admire what you're doing, but you got to make a choice. And so I said, Well, if you're talking about my faith and my belief, and uh he said, Well, kind of, and I said, Well, that choice was made a long time ago. And so that took me into a administration position at Welsh U, and that lasted for about a year, and then I decided that I wanted to coach football. And so Southern Nazarene gave me a chance to coach with Southern Nazarene for three years, work on my theological study degree, and then from there I would call the UCO and coach there for five years. And then after five years, I wanted to get back close to home, and so I came and uh did an internship or either did uh some networking, uh talking football here at Langston, and then next thing you know, I was offered a position back in 2010. So and I've been here just about ever since.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

That's awesome. And so what you know, is there anything special? Because I know you played at an HBCU early in your career. Is there anything special, you know, you think about being at an HBCU and and you know stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Absolutely. Uh, you know, I believe that uh football is give you opportunity to coach and tutor young men and encourage young men. And during my career, I helped a young lot of young men uh change the income circle. Uh were blessed, you know, some you know played professional football, some uh went on to be lawyers, some went on to be teachers and administrators enough and other other places. But uh I feel here at Langston and uh where I've done my most work, my best work, uh encouraging young men, uh, where guys, you know, not on full scholarship, guys on partial scholarships, uh, guys that need to be encouraged. I've served as a football coach, at a defense line coach here, and also I've served at a chaplain, you know, position. I do the chapel service before every game, and so it's been enriched and and I've been blessed, you know, to really have a uh you know, have a part in young men's lives, you know, and shape them for the future. So uh to me that's that's that's the mission, and I believe that's the calling that God has placed, you know, within my hands, you know, to go forth with.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

During your press conference and and in the press release announcing your position as interim head coach, you said you were ready to move the Linkson University football team forward. What does forward look like?

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Well, I uh I feel honored to you know to be as a coach here you know for uh over 15 years, uh uh close to 20. What I've served with uh four head coaches up under Coach Greg Johnson, the coaches that I at Gramlin, uh I I coached with him, uh Micker Joseph, I coached with uh DeWan Sanders and I coached with Coach Morgan. So during that time, I had a proper opportunity, you know, to take the job eight years ago. But uh, you know, I just felt like by praying and seeking and asking for divine help, God said, you know, you can help serving and helping someone else. But I feel that uh all the places I've been, University of Kentucky, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma State University, that right now we're at a position that we need to upgrade our facility. We're in a position now to uh to upgrade our players. Uh it's uh X and O's are good, but yet still we have to have players, you know, to go along with that. And so uh fundraising uh facility uh encourage uh enrichment, you know, it must be uh it is very important in order to take a step forward by being uh at Division I and seeing those things take place. And so I feel that uh we need a uh a step up here at Lancaster University in order to be able to compete and be and and and uh with especially with the with the competition that we're in right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

How can people best support the Lions in this new direction for Lion football?

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Well, I I feel and my strategy is it's it's it's kind of like uh uh old saying, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? Absolutely, yeah. So I feel like uh it due to the foundation uh earmark football. We we're doing uh uh second year with a golf tournament, you know, that's uh happening in the Oklahoma City area. Uh we're doing uh fundraiser with the players uh doing a doing a call a thon. We doing, we we've uh reaching out to donors, you know, just to help us. You know, we need to put paint on the wall, we need to take our carpet up. Uh we need to put uh we have 24 NFL uh players that have come through uh doors here at Langston University. Some of those guys I know, and we need to put their story and put their trademark up on the wall. Absolutely. And and so when recruits come in, wow, I didn't know this about Langston. And so uh those things are very important. Uh when you walk through the uh facility at OSU, I mean, there you will see uh, you know, you know, Calvin Miller play for New York Giants, Calvin Miller played for the Atlanta Falcon. You know, you I mean you see some things, you know, that that really said, wow, I didn't know that. And so those are some of the things that will help us recruit and also better, you know, uh uh it give us a better view and a better uh uh ex uh uh inspiration about Langston. And so uh we uh need to upgrade our student athlete talent. Uh we need to continue to get the best uh academics, you know, for the awards that we give here. Absolutely. And also we need to get some you know, some Jimmy's and Joes that can go play with with the teams that we're in the competition that we're gonna play with.

SPEAKER_00 13:52

Absolutely. Well, Coach Miller, thank you so much for joining us, and we're excited for this next season of Lion Football.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here and glad to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

The Langston University Lions will open the season September 5th at Louisiana Christian. Their first home game will be September 19th versus Texas College. You can support Lion Football by donating at Langston.edu, click donate, select athletics, and designate your donation football. Thank you for listening to this special episode of Lion Talk. Our March episode is out now wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to follow so you can stay in the loop with everything LU. Until next time, L'Z.