After four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Argonauts and helping them win two Canadian Football League Grey Cup titles (2022 and 2024), Mike Miller is getting the chance to lead the longstanding franchise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great to be a part of this first-class organization, and I am excited for this opportunity,\u201d the Plum native and longtime college and pro coach said concerning his first head coaching job.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is such a great tradition. When I came up (in 2022), I had a chance to work with some really good quarterbacks. It is a lot of fun to work with some special people as we continue to strive to win more championships. There is a lot of passion for football and the Argonauts in the city and surrounding areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Miller is not alone in his quest to bring another Grey Cup title to Toronto in 2026 while representing the Pittsburgh region. The local flair on the Argonauts coaching staff extends to Plum graduate and former University at Buffalo standout Rich \u201cBubba\u201d Walker (assistant linebackers and quality control coach) and Franklin Regional and Robert Morris graduate Colyn Haugh (assistant offensive line and quality control coach), who most recently served as head coach at Kiski Area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have put together a pretty good coaching staff with guys who really know the game and have so much experience,\u201d said Miller, whose team starts preseason work in May and opens the season June 12 in Montreal.<\/p>\n
The roster also is taking shape, and former Plum and Edinboro standout punter and kicker Reed Martin recently signed with the Argonauts to begin his professional career.<\/p>\n
Going north of the border<\/p>\n
Miller made his CFL coaching debut in 2013 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the Montreal Alouettes. A member of the organization reached out to Miller to gauge his interest in moving away from American football for the first time. He had just come off his sixth season of an assistant coaching tenure with the Arizona Cardinals that included the team\u2019s first trip to the Super Bowl in 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (Montreal) said they had been following my career, and they wanted to talk to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One of the first things he did to prepare himself was learning all the of rules differences in the CFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI researched the best I could,\u201d he said. \u201cThat whole process happened pretty fast. I had left Arizona, and within a month, the Montreal opportunity happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
After just one year in Montreal, Miller headed back to the college coaching ranks, working as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Edinboro in 2014, Robert Morris offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017 and Westminster defensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n
He moved to the XFL as the wide receivers coach for the New York Guardians in 2021 before arriving in Toronto.<\/p>\n
Miller said he\u2019s pleased for what he\u2019s been able to contribute to the Argonauts since his arrival. He\u2019s also grateful to many in and out of the organization for their support for him and his family during a challenging period in 2023 when he was diagnosed with throat cancer and was not able to finish the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough time, but it was a blessing to be able to be treated at the Princess Margaret Cancer Institute and have a great team of doctors,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone really helped me out with whatever I needed. I was able to return the next season (2024), and that was such a special year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 41-24, for the franchise\u2019s 19th Grey Cup title Nov. 17, 2024. It was a year to the day of his last cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really something special,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt was all God for having me be in the right place with many special people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller said 2025 was an up-and-down season as the team slipped to 5-13, but he was encouraged by the toughness and effort of the players, which gives him optimism entering this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy to be able to describe my vision and talk about where we needed to improve,\u201d he said. \u201cThey asked me what a Mike Miller team looks like, and I said it would be one of accountability, discipline, respect, trust and full of people with great passion for the game and passion to win. That is the same qualities I was looking for when I put together my coaching staff. It\u2019s all about a positive culture, and I feel we have that in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reunited<\/p>\n
Haugh and Miller first came together in 2006 when Haugh was a defensive lineman at Robert Morris and Miller was the Colonials defensive line coach. They again served together on the coaching staff at Westminster.<\/p>\n
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Haugh also coached in college at Robert Morris, Saint Francis and Edinboro.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known Mike for a while,\u201d Haugh said. \u201cHe\u2019s a really good person and coach. I think it\u2019s awesome to be reconnected like this. We got the chance to work together at Westminster, and I am just excited to get back with him, work with him and show that I have learned a lot in the game over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Haugh said that joining the Argonauts coaching staff meant a tough decision to leave Kiski Area, where he helped guide the Cavaliers to the WPIAL playoffs in his one season at the helm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really hard,\u201d Haugh said. \u201cThe relationships we created were awesome. The kids were great, and the community really backs the football program and wants to see it succeed. It wasn\u2019t an easy decision. But I felt that (Toronto) was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the ability to learn from the staff up there and further my knowledge of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
From high school to the pros<\/p>\n
Miller and Walker great up together in Plum, and their parents were best of friends. It has come full circle to where they now are sitting together in the coaching staff room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an awesome feeling and an incredible opportunity for me,\u201d said Walker of joining the Argonauts staff. \u201cTo get that call from coach Miller was surprising and exciting. I hadn\u2019t talked to him or been around him in probably 35 years. But I have watched every step of his career. Everything about this is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walker played four years at University at Buffalo and later got his degree from Augusta State University in Georgia.<\/p>\n
He made his coaching debut as a grad assistant at Division II Valdosta State. During his first season (2004), the Blaze won the NCAA D-II title.<\/p>\n
In all, Walker coached 12 years of college football and 11 years in high school in Georgia, and his teams posted an overall record of 187-70. In his one year with the Georgia Bulldogs (2006), he got to know future NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford, who was a true freshman that season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am grateful to have had the coaching career I\u2019ve had,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n
Getting his kicks in the pros<\/p>\n
Martin finished an All-American kicking career at Edinboro in 2024 and turned his attention to the pros with the hopes of getting a call from an NFL team during or after the draft last spring. But when that opportunity came and went, Martin kept working.<\/p>\n
He worked with Massarelli Landscaping Pump in the morning and then would train in the weight room and on the field while helping out with the Plum athletic department teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoach Miller gave me a call and asked me how my training had been going,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been working every single day since the draft knowing that I would be ready whenever I got my opportunity. He said he wanted (the Argonauts organization) to sign me. I can\u2019t wait to start minicamp at the beginning of May. I am so grateful to have this chance in professional football.\u201d<\/p>\n
This will be Martin\u2019s first time in Toronto. He hopes to make a strong first impression on the city and the fans while learning more about the rules differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey only have three downs to get a first down, so I will be punting on third down,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
In past seasons, if a kicker missed a field goal left or right but still had the distance, he would score one point, a \u201crouge.\u201d However, that scoring dimension is being eliminated starting in 2026.<\/p>\n
That was featured prominently in a CFL game in 1966, when Montreal defeated Ottawa, 1-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was something really interesting to me,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
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