Miller played at Cherokee County High School in the 1920s and was a member of the Warriors’ 1926 undefeated season. He went on to play college football at Alabama, where he was a three-year starting lineman (1928-30).
Miller was a member of the Crimson Tide’s 1930 Southeastern Conference and national championship team – a team which capped its 10-0 season with a 24-0 victory over Washington State in the 1931 Rose Bowl.
Miller died in 1996 at the age of 91. His daughter, Mary Scott, said her father would have been proud of how the Tide (14-0) earned its 13th national championship and first since 1992.
“My dad is smiling in heaven right now,” Mary said. “I’m glad we won it. I think he’d say ‘That looks like an Alabama team.’”
Thursday night’s championship was only the seventh postseason game Alabama had ever played at the legendary Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and its first bowl game there since a 34-14 victory over Southern Cal in 1946.
Miller’s son-in-law, Charlie Scott, also said Miller would have been proud of the Tide.
Charlie, a former University of Tennessee basketball player, recalled watching a lot of football games with Miller. He said Miller was “big on tackling.”
“He would say watching Alabama games, or any football games, ‘They don’t know how to tackle anymore. They just stick an arm out there,’” Charlie said. “I think he’d be proud of the way Alabama played (Thursday), the first half particularly. He might would have been concerned with the conservative nature they had in the second half, but he would have been very proud of how the defense played.”
Miller’s athleticism was passed on to his grandson, Chuck Scott, who played tight end at Vanderbilt in the mid-1980s. Chuck went on to play professional football with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams (1986) and the Dallas Cowboys (1987).
Miller was inducted into the Cherokee County Hall of Fame last July.
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Talk about getting a leg up on the competition.
Warrior junior kicker Isaac Jones’ name is scrawled atop the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s football records website in two categories. Jones’ 109 total points last season set an AHSAA record for most points kicking in a season. His 82 of 88 extra points are the most kicked in a season.
Jones’ kicking helped the Warriors (15-0) clinch their first football state title, a 31-27 victory over Jackson in the Class 4A state championship last month.
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Speaking of the Warriors, football coach Tripp Curry recently finalized the team’s 2010 schedule.
The Class 4A state champions will begin defense of their title on Aug. 26 when they host Cedar Bluff. It will be the first time the Warriors have played Cedar Bluff in football since 1951, a 33-0 Cherokee County victory.
Cherokee County leads the all-time series 8-3-2.
Other non-region games include a home game with Cleburne County on Sept. 24 and a battle at defending Class 3A state champion Piedmont on Oct. 29 to end the regular season.
The Warriors will compete in the new Class 4A, Region 7 with Fairview (Sept. 3), Crossville (Sept. 10), Butler (Sept. 17), North Jackson (Oct. 1), DAR (Oct. 8), Douglas (Oct. 15) and Guntersville (Oct. 22).
Road games are at Crossville, Douglas and Guntersville.
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