Buffalo coach saw something special in Miller
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Back in 2007, when he was the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Jeff Quinn made the one-hour trek to Huber Heights, Ohio to check out Wayne High School's freshman quarterback. What the now-Buffalo head coach discovered was something special, and a hidden gem that wouldn't stay hidden for long.
"I saw Braxton Miller when he was a freshman in high school," Quinn said on Monday's Mid-American Conference teleconference. "Even then, even though he was a young high school freshman, I saw a lot of skills that I hadn't seen in players that were juniors and seniors at that time. So we were the first ones to get in there and get our eyes on him."
Despite being the first coaching staff to get a look at the future four-star prospect, the Bearcats certainly weren't the last. By the end of his storied high school career, Miller compiled at least 14 offers from BCS conference programs, before ultimately committing to Ohio State before the start of his senior season.
But even though he never got a chance to coach the 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback, Quinn will still get to share a field with Miller, when his Bulls take on the Buckeyes in this Saturday's season-opener. And unfortunately for Quinn, his former target has only gotten better in the six years since he recruited him, as Miller enters his junior season as one of the favorites to walk away with the Heisman Trophy.
"The more I've studied him, the more I think he's a complete player. He can throw the ball, he can run the ball, he manages the offense, he's making good, quality decisions," Quinn said of Miller. "You can tell his team really rallies around him. Without a doubt, he is by far, one of the best."
Miller isn't the only tie that Quinn has to the current Ohio State program.
Having spent four seasons as an assistant at UC, the fourth-year Buffalo head coach has coached alongside Buckeyes cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs and tight ends coach Tim Hinton. Couple that with being the Bearcats' interim head coach for their 51-24 beat down at the hands of Urban Meyer's Florida squad in the 2010 Sugar Bowl, and Quinn knows that his team will have its hands full this Saturday.
"It's going to be an extremely competitive battle for four quarters," he said. "We know we're playing one of the best football teams in the country. Obviously it's a team that's coming off an undefeated season last year ... it's going to be a great test for our kids."
Despite the daunting task at hand -- the Buckeyes are currently listed as a 35-point favorite -- Quinn remains optimistic about his team's efforts. The Bulls went 4-8 in 2012, but won three of their last four games and return 15 starters from last year's squad, including quarterback Joe Licata.
"We have expectations in our program in terms of what we want to accomplish on the defensive side, offensive side, and special teams. We want to be that team that can go out there and play a complete game," Quinn said. "Our kids are going to compete for at the highest level for four quarters, and we want to be that complete team that constantly is out there competing every snap, every play, to the best of their ability and let the end result take care of itself."
Of course remaining competitive with a team of Ohio State's caliber isn't always as simple as giving a maximum effort. The Buckeyes enter 2013 as the country's second-ranked team for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the signal-caller who Quinn got a sneak peak at six season ago.
"It's kind of interesting just to see how many good defenses he's faced, and how well he's been able to be effective. He's definitely 'The Guy,' in my opinion," Quinn said. "We need to slow down Braxton."
As he saw even when Miller was just a high school freshman, doing that is easier said than done.
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