Barron Miles (born January 1, 1972) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

player who played for 12 years in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Starting ...

of the CFL. Miles finished his career tied for second all-time in career interceptions with 66 and as the all-time leader in blocked kicks with 13. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 2018. Raised in Roselle, New Jersey, Miles played prep football on both offense and defence at

Abraham Clark High School Abraham Clark High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from the borough of Roselle, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Roselle Public ...

College football career

One of the top cornerbacks and special teams players in school history at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, Barron Miles helped Nebraska win the 1994 NCAA college football national championship, and deliver

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is a former American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 season ...

's first national title. He earned All-Big Eight honors in 1993 and 1994 and ranks among NU's all-time top 10 in pass breakups. He also blocked a school-record seven punts during his career.

Professional football career

Miles was drafted by the NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, but failed to make the team after suffering a serious knee injury in a preseason game versus the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

during his rookie season. He was assigned to the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europa in 1997. Miles joined the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

in 1998, and made an immediate impact, winning the CFL East Division Rookie of the Year Award. Miles played seven seasons with

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, and was named a CFL All-Star three times ( 1999,

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) during his tenure as a

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark occu ...

. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Miles signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, and started 17 of 18 games for the Lions at

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

missing only one game due to injury. Miles was named to the 2005

CFL West Division The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagu ...

All-Star team as a defensive back and led the Lions with six

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

(4th in the CFL). In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Miles led the CFL in interceptions with 10, for 206 return yards, and two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. During a 2006 CFL All-Star season, Miles recorded 39 defensive

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, four pass knockdowns, three forced

fumbles A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

, and a fumble recovery. Miles also notched one defensive tackle, a blocked kick, and a

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

in the Lions' CFL West Division Championship game against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

, as well as three defensive tackles in the Lions' 25-14

Grey Cup Championship The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

victory over Miles' old team, the

. On August 7, 2009, Miles became the CFL's career leader for blocked kicks (13) with a blocked

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Miles is a five-time CFL All-Star at the

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

position and finished his career with 66 interceptions.

Coaching career

Miles began his coaching career as a defensive backs coach for the Senior Varsity Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers during the 2009 season. After serving as an assistant defensive coach and defensive backs coach in the CFL for four teams over 11 years, Miles was named the defensive coordinator for the

in 2021. He continued in that role to begin the 2022 season, but was fired after four games on July 6, 2022. Miles was hired as the defensive coordinator for the

Bishop's Gaiters The Bishop's Gaiters is the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The name Gaiter is a nickname used to refer to garments worn over the shoe and lower pants leg, worn by Anglican bishops ...

in August 2022. On December 5, 2022, it was announced that Miles had been hired by the

to become their defensive coordinator.

Personal life

Miles and his wife Jennifer have three children: Raven, Barron Jr. and Ava.

External links

Barron Miles' ''BC Lions.com'' Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Barron 1972 births Living people Abraham Clark High School alumni African-American players of Canadian football American players of Canadian football BC Lions coaches BC Lions players Bishop's Gaiters football coaches Canadian football defensive backs Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Edmonton Elks coaches Frankfurt Galaxy players Montreal Alouettes coaches Montreal Alouettes players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players People from Roselle, New Jersey Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Sportspeople from Union County, New Jersey Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Pittsburgh Steelers players