Don "Midnight" Miller (March 29, 1902 – July 28, 1979) was an

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

player and coach. He was one of the famous " Four Horsemen" of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

's backfield in 1924, when the Fighting Irish won the 1924 National Title. Miller was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a player in 1970.

College career

Miller's three brothers attended Notre Dame before he did. The most famous of these being Harry "Red" Miller, captain of the 1908 squad. Notre Dame head coach

Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne (; March 4, 1888 – March 31, 1931) was an American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Leading Notre Dame for 13 seasons, Rockne accumulated over 100 wins and three national championships. Rockne is ...

called Miller "the greatest open field runner I ever had." Another brother, Ray T. Miller, later had a lengthy career in politics in the Cleveland area. In 2002, the NCAA published "NCAA Football's Finest," researched and compiled by the NCAA Statistics Service. For Miller they published the following statistics:

Professional football career

In 1925, Miller played professional football for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2025, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

and the then-independent

Hartford Blues The Hartford Blues of the National Football League played only in the 1926 NFL season, with a record of 3–7. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut but played at the East Hartford Velodrome. Hall of Famers Season-by-season Referen ...

. After his playing career, Miller coached at several colleges, including

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. He became the head football coach of St. Xavier High School of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

in 1934.

Law career

Miller eventually quit coaching and practiced law, in which he was successful in the Cleveland area. On February 5, 1957, Miller appeared on ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Don 1902 births 1979 deaths American football halfbacks American men's basketball players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Hartford Blues players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches High school football coaches in Kentucky College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Defiance, Ohio Players of American football from Cleveland Basketball players from Cleveland Providence Steamrollers players