Christopher James Miller (born August 9, 1965) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who was selected by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the 1st round (13th overall) of the

1987 NFL Draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Marq ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Early life

Born in Pomona,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Miller was raised in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He attended Sheldon High School in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. He was star athlete in three sports: baseball, football and basketball.

College athlete

Miller attended

where he played quarterback for the Oregon Ducks football team. He was considered a risky recruit for higher ranked college teams due to concerns about a knee injury he suffered in high school.

College statistics

*1983: 17/41 for 229 yards with 2 TD vs 3 INT *1984: 145/289 for 1,712 yards with 10 TD vs 10 INT *1985: 182/329 for 2,237 yards with 18 TD vs 13 INT; 45 carries for 81 yards with 4 TD *1986: 216/356 for 2,503 yards with 12 TD vs 13 INT

Professional athlete

Miller played in 10 NFL seasons from 1987 to 1995 and 1999. His best year as a pro came during the 1991 season for the Falcons when he threw for over 3,000 yards and 26

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

Concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

s prevented him from playing longer. After he suffered five in a span of 14 months, he left the league for the first time. A concussion during his comeback with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in 1999 convinced him that it was best to retire for good. He was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

in 2005.

Coaching career

Miller was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for

South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. History The school was founded as Eugene High School around 1900, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that late ...

in Eugene, Oregon, from 2001 to 2006. He was also the quarterback coach for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, Miller returned to South Eugene as head coach. In 2014, he was named the head football coach at

West Linn High School West Linn High School is a public high school in West Linn, Oregon, United States. It is one of two high schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, the other being Wilsonville High School. Academics In 1984, West Linn High School wa ...

. Before the 2019 season, Miller announced he would depart West Linn at year's end to join the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

as offensive coordinator. In May 2020, he was named head coach of Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon. He never coached a game for the Lightning, however, as his former position at West Linn opened up a few weeks later and Miller returned to the Lions on July 8, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Chris 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Sportspeople from Pomona, California Players of American football from Oregon American football quarterbacks Sheldon High School (Eugene, Oregon) alumni Oregon Ducks football players Atlanta Falcons players Los Angeles Rams players St. Louis Rams players Denver Broncos players National Conference Pro Bowl players High school football coaches in Oregon Houston Roughnecks coaches