Georgetown Head Coach Candidate: Archie Miller

Next up in Casual Hoya’s coaching candidate series: the University of Dayton’s Archie Miller.

Miller, 38, has built Dayton into a consistent NCAA Tournament participant since he assumed the helm in 2011, making four consecutive March Madness appearances. Miller became a household name and a prominent target for several high-major coaching jobs after guiding the Flyers to an Elite Eight appearance in 2014.

Miller may not be the candidate who has had the most rumors tie him to the Georgetown opening, but he has been floated as a potential candidate by several college basketball writers.

Miller played at NC State and had several assistant coaching jobs, including stops at Ohio State and Arizona, the latter with his brother Sean Miller as the head coach, before starting at Dayton in 2011. Miller has posted 20 wins or more in five of six seasons, and despite not making it out of the first weekend of the tournament in the last three years, Miller has done a laudable job turning Dayton into a perennial at-large bid team. He has been tied peripherally to the vacancy at Indiana, but it’s unlikely Miller takes the job.

Miller has gained a reputation as someone who can generate a lot of results without top-level talent. Only one of Miller’s recruits was ranked in the ESPN 100 coming out of high school, and in several years, Dayton’s teams featured no player taller than 6’6”. Notably, Miller recently began recruiting the greater DC area, as two of his class of 2016 recruits came from Baltimore and Arlington, respectively. Taking the Georgetown job would provide Miller with plenty of potential talent to recruit and put him in a more advantageous situation.

On the other hand, unlike other candidates like Mike Brey and Tommy Amaker, Miller has few prior personal ties to the area or to Georgetown. While Miller may represent more of a clean break, he may lack some of the advantages that those candidates may offer. Under Miller, Dayton has seen several players kicked off the team or suspended due to personal issues, but Dayton’s program has avoided serious violations in his six years at the helm.

It remains to be seen whether or not Miller materializes as a candidate for the vacancy. Miller has proven his ability to build a successful program at Dayton and will likely secure a high-major job within the next few years. He may not be the next coach of the Hoyas, but if you’re running the coaching search, he should be one of the first calls you make.

Full bio HERE

Desirability rating: 9 out of 10