Allie Miller

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1886–1959)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Allie Miller

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1886|6|23}}

| birth_place = Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date|1959|10|22|1886|6|23}}

| death_place = Abington, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1907–1909

| player_team1 = Penn

| player_positions = Quarterback

| coach_years1 = 1912

| coach_team1 = Penn (freshmen)

| coach_years2 = 1913

| coach_team2 = Haverford (PA)

| coach_years3 = 1914–1916

| coach_team3 = Tome (MD)

| coach_years4 = 1918

| coach_team4 = Tome (MD)

| coach_years5 = 1919

| coach_team5 = Penn (assistant)

| coach_years6 = 1920

| coach_team6 = Washington & Jefferson (backfield)

| coach_years7 = 1921–1922

| coach_team7 = Villanova

| coach_years8 = 1924–1925

| coach_team8 = Washington & Jefferson (backfield)

| overall_record = 11–4–3

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

National (1908)

| awards =

Third-team All-American (1908)

| coaching_records =

}}

Albert Crist "Allie" Miller (June 23, 1886 – October 22, 1959) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Villanova College—now known as Villanova University—from 1921 to 1922, compiling a record of 11–4–3. Miller played college football at the University of Pennsylvania from 1907 to 1909.

Career

Miller was a reserve quarterback for Penn in 1907. In 1908, he filled in for starter Charles Keinath during the Carnegie Tech and Michigan games.{{cite news |title=Goals From Field |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwobAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA26&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=November 2, 1908}}{{cite news |title=Penn Loses Quarter Back Keinath |work=The New York Times |date=November 16, 1908}} Keinath left the game early in the season finale against Cornell and Miller scored a 47-yard touchdown to help lead Penn to a 17 to 4 victory.{{cite news |title=Old Penn Beat Cornell 17 to 4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zj5UAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Philadelphia Record |date=November 27, 1908}} Miller was captain of the 1909 Penn Quakers football team.{{cite news |title=Miller Penn's Captain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ou9bAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA10&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=St. Joseph Gazette |date=December 3, 1908}} His younger brother, Heinie Miller, also played at Penn and later became a college football coach.{{cite news |title=Sporting Notes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2osnAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Crawfordsville Review |date=January 2, 1917}}

Coaching

In 1912, Miller was coach of Penn's freshmen football team.{{cite news |title=Penn Names Coaches to Help Andy Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHFFAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=Trenton True American |date=April 18, 1912}} The following year he coached the at the Haverford Grammar School.{{cite news |title=West Philly Has Husky Eleven |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/169066392/ |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=September 29, 1913}} From 1914 to 1916, he was the head coach at the Tome School.{{cite news |title=School Sports |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSYnAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA14&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=Boston Evening Transcript |date=September 10, 1914}}{{cite news |title=Miller to Coach Tome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7UcAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=June 19, 1916}} Forrest Craver took over as Tome's coach in 1917, but Miller returned the following year.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B7caAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WkkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1213,1829367&dq=franklin-and-marshall+football&hl=en|publisher=The Pittsburgh Press|date=August 6, 1917|accessdate=April 18, 2011|title=Warner's Choice to Direct Sports at Tome School}}{{cite news |title=Miller to Coach at Tome |work=The New York Times |date=September 29, 1918}} He returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 1919 and was the backfield coach at Washington & Jefferson College in 1920.{{cite news |title=Penn Resumes Its Work For Cornell |work=The New York Times |date=November 25, 1919}}{{cite news |title=New Coach for W. And J. |work=The New York Times |date=October 28, 1920}}

Miller became the Villanova Wildcats football coach in 1921.{{cite news |author= |title=Allie Miller Will Coach Villanova |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2759826/harrisburg_telegraph/ |newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph |location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |date=August 27, 1921 |page=13 |access-date=July 6, 2015 }} That year, he led the team to its best season in many years, losing only one game. Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide credited Miller with developing "quite a good team from the mediocre material at his command".{{cite book |title=Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide |date=1922 |publisher=American Sports Publishing Company |location=New York |page=77 |url=https://archive.org/details/officialnational08nation/page/76/mode/2up?q=Villanova |access-date=17 March 2024}} The following season, Villanova compiled a 5–3–1 record.{{cite web|title=Villanova State Game by Game Results|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/v/villanova/1920-1924_yearly_results.php|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|access-date=June 7, 2017|archive-date=August 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815012900/http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/v/villanova/1920-1924_yearly_results.php|url-status=dead}}

In 1924 and 1925, Miller was the backfield coach at Washington & Jefferson.{{cite news |title=Allie Miller To Report At W. & J. Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ay5eAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA29&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Washington Reporter |date=April 22, 1924}}{{cite news |title=Allie Miller Arrived to Aid in W. & J's. Spring Gridiron Work |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJpiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA22&dq |access-date=17 March 2024 |work=The Washington Reporter |date=March 31, 1925}}

Later life

After football, Miller worked as an insurance broker for J. B. Carnett in Philadelphia.{{cite news |title=Albert C. Miller |work=The New York Times |date=October 25, 1959}} He died on October 22, 1959, at Abington Hospital in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.{{cite news |author= |title="Allie" Miller |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76537164/obituary-for-albert-c-miller/ |newspaper=The Express |location=Lock Haven, Pennsylvania |date=October 26, 1959 |page=3 |access-date=April 26, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} He was survived by his two sons and one daughter. He was preceded by his wife, Maude Skeene Clarke Miller, who died in 1954.{{cite news |title=Mrs. Albert Miller |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=July 14, 1954}}