Head Coach Jay Miller
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HEAD COACH JAY MILLER at the helm. Softball Player of the Year. The next season, The Illinois native also became Mississippi she finished her senior campaign as one of the State’s winningest coach in 2009, earning three finalists for the prestigious award after the mark with a 4-3 win over Purdue on becoming the school’s second multiple-time first Feb. 13. Just days later, all of his hard work team all-American. Bures and Bramlett went on and dedication to the sport paid off when he to be nominated to the player of the year watch B was selected the head coach of the United list, with Bramlett advancing to the top 25 in both States Women’s National Team for the 2009- 2008 and 2009. U 2012 quadrennium. Guiding a contingent that Miller’s first season also saw the Bulldogs go L included Bulldog senior Chelsea Bramlett and 34-30 and earn their second-consecutive NCAA former MSU all-American Courtney Bures, postseason berth - the first time the Maroon and L Miller led the U.S. to gold medals at Canada White achieved consecutive NCAA Regional D Cup, the World Cup of Softball and Japan bids. Furthermore, Mississippi State broke or Cup. tied eight team single-season records in his O His latest accolades came just a couple of months after he earned a distinguished G place among fastpitch softball’s coaching THE MILLER FILE S greats in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Miller became just FULL NAME: Charles Jay Miller JAY MILLER the third SEC head coach to be inducted into the annals, joining Yvette Girouard of LSU HIRE DATE: August 2, 2002 Head Coach • Eighth Season and Joyce Compton of South Carolina as part of the association’s 18th class. BIRTHDATE: May 25, 1956 Illinois State ‘78 His induction into the hall capped a 2008 season that saw his Bulldogs finish with EDUCATION: Completed International Studies a 41-22 record, the second-most wins in Program at University of Grenoble (France) in Utilizing a coaching model that emphasizes school history, and set school records for 1975; Bachelor of Science in Psychology and hard work, loyalty, enthusiasm, dedication to the batting average (.311) and stolen bases (126). Sociology at Illinois State University in 1978; classroom and a commitment on the playing The ‘08 campaign also saw him reach Masters of Science in Education with emphasis field, Jay Miller further cemented his reputation a couple of personal milestones, as he won in counseling and personnel services at Purdue as one of the most well-respected coaches in his 900th career game with a victory over University in 1979. ABD in Counseling Psychology the sport during a 2009 year filled with acco- Syracuse on Mar. 1 at the NFCA Leadoff lades. Classic and coached his 1,500th career game FAMILY: Wife - Lacy Lee Baker. The couple has a daughter, Nicole, 18. Under his leadership last season, his on May 3 in a win over Arkansas. Mississippi State squad returned to the post- In more than two decades of coaching COACHING EXPERIENCE: Head Coach at season for the sixth time in his seven seasons softball at the Division I level at Missouri and Purdue (1980-81); Assistant Coach at Missouri Mississippi State, Miller has helped (1982-84); Head Coach at Missouri (1987-02); develop the talents of a plethora of Head Coach at Mississippi State (2002-Present). players who have gone on to write their own success stories. Over the INTERNATIONAL COACHING EXPERIENCE: last 12 years, he has had the plea- Pitching Coach for Netherlands Antilles at Pan sure of mentoring 47 all-conference Am Games (1987) and World Championships players, as well as 10 all-Americans. (1990); USA Softball National Team Selection In addition, Miller has coached two Committee (1992-1996); Team Leader For players - Barb Wright at Missouri USA Softball National Team at Pan American and Iyhia McMichael at MSU - to Qualifying Tournament (1994); USA National Team three different conference player of Coaching Staff (1997-present); Assistant Coach the year accolades. Since 1996, 39 for USA Softball National Team at Pan American and World Championship qualifying tournament players have secured conference (1997); Head Coach for USA Blue National player of the week laurels under Team at Canada Cup and American Challenge Miller as well. Series (1999); Head Coach for USA Red National Through his first seven seasons Team at US Cup (2001); Assistant Coach for in the third base box at MSU, 37 USA Red National Team at Softball Shootout single-season school records have and Canada Cup (2001); Head Coach for USA been set, and three players have Softball Elite Team at Canada Cup (2002-2004); earned Louisville Slugger/NFCA Head Coach for USA Softball National Team at First-Team All-America honors a World University Games (2004); Assistant Coach total of seven times. Bramlett earned for USA Softball National Team at Pacific Rim first team honors for the third-straight Sports Summit (June, 2005); Assistant Coach season in 2009, becoming the first for USA Elite National Team at Canada Cup Bulldog to receive first-team distinc- (June, 2005); Assistant Coach for USA Softball tion in her first three seasons. National Team at Intercontinental Cup (July, Bramlett was also named to the 2005); Assistant Coach for USA Softball World NFCA all-region team along with University Team (2006); Head Coach for USA Softball Junior National Team at Pan American Sammie Jo Bailey, Ali Bainbridge Qualifier (2006-2007), Head Coach for USA and Ka’ili Smith, giving Miller 10 Junior World Championships - gold medal (2007), players who have received the Head Coach for USA National Team at Canada honor 15 collective times. Cup - gold medal (2009), Head Coach for USA In his first season with the National Team at World Cup of Softball - gold Maroon & White, McMichael was medal (2009), Head Coach for USA National named a top-10 finalist for USA Team at Japan Cup - gold medal (2009). 40 HEAD COACH JAY MILLER first campaign in Starkville, then shattered two morere thethe followingfoollowing season. Miller stresses academic excellence as much, if notnot more,moore, thanthan on-field excellence. The 2010 Dawgs posted the top fallfall grade-pointgrade-pooinnt average among MSU’s female teams with a program-bestgram-best 3.493.449 GPA. The 2008 squad had a school-record 10 playerss namednammeed NFCANFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete en route to earning the teameam thethe eighth-eighth- highest grade-point average in Division I softball. Thathat editionediitit on alsoalsso had 14 players earn academic honors from the SEC,ECC, givinggivingn StateState 70 conference academic honorees during Miller’ss tenure.tenuurre. SinceSiinnce 1985, Miller has had 118 conference academic honororr rollroll picksppicks and,and, in 2007, Mississippi State earned nine NFCA All-Americamerica Scholar-Scholar- Athlete selections for the second-straight year en routeute toto 49 honor-hoonor- ees in Miller’s seven seasons. Success with MState is nothing new for Miller, ass it hashas followedfolloowew d him at every stop of his coaching career. Having postedposteed winningwiw nnini g records in all but two of his 27 seasons as a collegiateatte headhead coach,cooaca h, Miller has coached his teams to 40+-win seasons on eighteighhtt occa-occa-a sions, with the 2004 version of the Bulldogs falling justjust oneonone victoryvictc oro y shy of number nine. His 1986 Oklahoma City squadaad turnedtuurneed in anan eye-popping 50-win campaign as the Stars compiledd a 50-26500--226 markmarkk en route to a national runner-up finish. Mixed in with his collegiate success, Miller hass alsoalsso builtbbuuililt ana impressive resumè on the international stage. His appointmentaappoinntmennt asas head coach of the national team was the culminationon ofof a journeyjouournneyy that started from 1992-96 when he served on the NationalNatioonaal TeamTeaeam selection committee that would, ultimately, be in chargerge ofof choosingchhoosis ngg the inaugural USA Softball team to compete in the 1996119966 OlympicsOlympm ics in Atlanta. He has served in various capacities with the organization,nizattion, includ-incn lud- ing head coaching stints of the USA Red squad thatatt capturedcaptureed goldgoldl at the 2001 U.S. Cup and the USA Elite team that tooktook homehome thethe 2003 Canada Cup championship after claiming runner-uper-up honorshonon rs thethe previous year. He also was an assistant coach for thee USAUSSA NationalNaationala Team in gold medal runs at both the Pacific Rim Sportsorrts SummitSummit andand the Intercontinental Cup in 2004. He was also on thee coachingcoaching staffstafa f of the USA Elite squad in its run to a silver medal at thee 200520005 CanadaCannaada Cup, and the 2006 World University squad, including Bures,BBurees, thatthat wonwow n the gold medal in Taiwan. The 2007 slate saw him skipperppper thethee UnitedUnited States Junior National Team to the gold medal at thehee JuniorJunior WorldWorld Championships in The Netherlands after the squad postedpoosted a perfectperffect 10-0 mark in the qualifier the previous fall. “Coaching with USA Softball has helped tremendouslydoussly becausebeecause you are working only working with the best coachesess inin thethe UnitedUnited States, but the top in the world also,” he said. “It hass enabledenaabledd meme to exchange ideas and talk about what works and whatat doesn’tdooesn’’t work.wwoorkr . That’s a continual process. You do that each time.” That interaction with some of the top names inn thethhe sportsportt notnoto only helped him in Starkville, but also during his 15-year-yeaar tenuretenure as the head coach at Missouri. There, he led the Tigersers toto a pairpairir ofof Women’s College World Series appearances in 1991991 andandd 1994,1999 44, five NCAA Regional appearances and compiled a 556-3095556-30309 overallovo eraalll record.