Gus Miller
William Augustus Miller (August 3, 1900 – February 16, 1992) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Texas Wesleyan College—now known as Texas Wesleyan University—in Fort Worth, Texas from 1937 to 1941 and West Texas State Teachers College—now known as West Texas A&M University—in Canyon, Texas–from 1942 to 1946, compiling a career college football coaching record of 41–32–3. Miller was also the head basketball coach at Texas Wesleyan from 1947 to 1942 and West Texas State from 1942 to 1957, tallying a career college basketball coaching mark of 283–154. His basketball teams won three Border Conference championships and made an appearance in the 1955 NCAA basketball tournament.[1]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1900 Pine Grove, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | February 16, 1992 (aged 91) Denton, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1919 | West Texas State |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1926 | Slaton HS (TX) |
| 1927–1936 | Trinidad HS (CO) |
| 1937–1941 | Texas Wesleyan |
| 1942–1946 | West Texas State |
| Basketball | |
| 1937–1942 | Texas Wesleyan |
| 1942–1957 | West Texas State |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1946–1957 | West Texas State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 41–32–3 (college football) 283–154 (college basketball) |
| Tournaments | Basketball 4–3 (NAIA) 0–1 (NCAA) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 Texas Conference (1940) Basketball 4 Texas Conference (1938, 1940–1942) 3 Border (1943, 1952, 1955) | |
Miller coached at Trinidad High School in Trinidad, Colorado for 10 years before he was hired at Texas Wesleyan in 1937.[2][3][4][5]
Miller was born in Pine Grove, Texas. He received a bachelor's degree from West Texas State and a master's degree from Texas Tech University. He died on February 16, 1992, at a hospital in Denton, Texas.[6]
Head coaching record
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Wesleyan Rams (Texas Conference) (1937–1941) | |||||||||
| 1937 | Texas Wesleyan | 6–3 | 3–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1938 | Texas Wesleyan | 3–4–1 | 2–3 | 6th | |||||
| 1939 | Texas Wesleyan | 4–5–2 | 2–2–1 | T–5th | |||||
| 1940 | Texas Wesleyan | 7–2 | 5–1 | T–1st | |||||
| 1941 | Texas Wesleyan | 5–3 | 5–1 | T–2nd | |||||
| Texas Wesleyan: | 25–17–3 | 17–9–1 | |||||||
| West Texas State Buffaloes (Border Conference) (1942–1946) | |||||||||
| 1942 | West Texas State | 7–2 | 5–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1943 | No team—World War II | ||||||||
| 1944 | West Texas State | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1945 | West Texas State | 2–6 | 0–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1946 | West Texas State | 3–4[n 1] | 2–3[n 1] | [n 1] | |||||
| West Texas State: | 16–15 | 8–8 | |||||||
| Total: | 41–32–3 | ||||||||
College basketball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Wesleyan Rams (Texas Conference) (1937–1941) | |||||||||
| 1937–38 | Texas Wesleyan | 13–1 | 12–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1938–39 | Texas Wesleyan | 19–7 | 9–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1939–40 | Texas Wesleyan | 20–3 | 12–0 | 1st | NAIA Elite Eight | ||||
| 1940–41 | Texas Wesleyan | 21–2 | 12–0 | 1st | NAIA Elite Eight | ||||
| 1941–42 | Texas Wesleyan | 13–4 | 12–0 | 1st | NAIA First Round | ||||
| Texas Wesleyan: | 86–17 (.835) | 57–2 (.966) | |||||||
| West Texas State Buffaloes (Border Conference) (1942–1957) | |||||||||
| 1942–43 | West Texas State | 16–7 | 12–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1943–44 | No team—World War II | ||||||||
| 1944–45 | West Texas State | 16–10 | 5–3 | ||||||
| 1945–46 | West Texas State | 19–8 | 9–3 | ||||||
| 1946–47 | West Texas State | 13–11 | 8–8 | ||||||
| 1947–48 | West Texas State | 11–13 | 7–9 | ||||||
| 1948–49 | West Texas State | 16–7 | 7–7 | ||||||
| 1949–50 | West Texas State | 19–10 | 9–5 | ||||||
| 1950–51 | West Texas State | 14–12 | 9–7 | ||||||
| 1951–52 | West Texas State | 19–8 | 12–2 | 1st | |||||
| 1952–53 | West Texas State | 8–13 | 5–9 | ||||||
| 1953–54 | West Texas State | 13–7 | 9–3 | ||||||
| 1954–55 | West Texas State | 15–7 | 9–3 | 1st | NCAA first round | ||||
| 1955–56 | West Texas State | 12–10 | 6–6 | ||||||
| 1956–57 | West Texas State | 6–14 | 3–7 | ||||||
| West Texas A&M: | 197–137 (.590) | 110–72 (.604) | |||||||
| Total: | 283–154 (.648) | ||||||||
| National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
Notes
- ^ a b c Miller resigned after the first seven games of the 1946 season. Windy Nicklaus replaced Miller as head coach and led West Texas State to a record of 2–1 over the final three games of the season. The team finished 5–5 overall and 4–5 in Border Conference play, placing fifth.
References
- ^ "2012-13 Men's Basketball Record Book".
- ^ King, Dub (July 2, 1937). "Miller Appointed Rams' Head Coach". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. p. 12. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "West Texas Buffaloes Add Miller to Coaching Staff". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. Associated Press. February 13, 1942. p. 11. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Gilstrap, Harry (October 23, 1946). "Miller Takes Over WTS Athletic Director Duties". Amarillo Daily News. Amarillo, Texas. p. 8. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "College Announces Changes In Coaching Staff, PE Department". The Canyon News. Canyon, Texas. April 10, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "William A. Miller". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fort Worth, Texas. February 18, 1992. p. 15. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
External links
- Gus Miller at Find a Grave