West Virginia football coach Rich Rodriguez's footprint in college football is not your normal-sized foot.
It isn't quite that of Shaquille O'Neal, who wears a size 22. But Rodriguez's philosophy, mentality and former players coaching in the same realm he's in continues to grow.
Several former Mountaineers are in the coaching ranks, including West Virginia State coach John Pennington. Pat White and Noel Devine serve on Rodriguez's staff at WVU.
Former defensive lineman Julian Miller is making a name for himself in the coaching ranks, as he's entering his third season at Chattanooga.
He started in March 2024 and has served as an assistant for the defensive tackles for the Mocs.
Miller moved to Chattanooga after being at West Liberty from 2021-23.
"It's been fun. It's definitely been an ascending type of journey," Miller said. "I tell everybody that I didn't think when I decided to get into coaching that I would get to experience all the different levels within my career. Out of the gate, I had ended up deciding to get into coaching once my professional playing career was over.
"The first opportunity I had ended up getting was an opportunity to coach in Ocala, Florida. I got my feet wet a little bit down there."
Miller then transitioned to being a graduate assistant at WVU from 2018-20.
His first season back at his alma mater was with coach Dana Holgorsen before spending the last two working for Neal Brown.
He then spent the 2021 season at Concord with coach Dave Walker.
After spending a year in Athens, he made the jump up to the Northern Panhandle to coach at West Liberty.
"Right there, to be honest with you, is where I truly found myself, as a college coach," Miller said. "I got to spend three amazing years there and got to learn about myself, how to coach, my coaching style, and ultimately led me to an opportunity here at Chattanooga.
"It's been a blessing to be able to guide my journey through the whole process and get to experience a lot of new things and get to meet a lot of these different players and coaches."
Millers' three seasons have come under coach Rusty Wright, who is entering his eighth season with the Mocs.
Miller has helped two players earn all-conference honors at Chattanooga, both coming in 2024 -- Marlon Taylor (first team) and Quay Wiggles (second team).
Chattanooga is about 600 miles from where Miller came from at West Liberty.
His time spent in his third state coaching has allowed him to continue digesting what he's seen from other coaches.
"It's been pretty cool seeing the different dynamics," Miller said. "When you look at the bigger levels, there's a ton of similarities between the culture of West Virginia football, like the big dogs, and Tennessee, per se, and when you get to this level at the FCS level. There's a lot of similarities.
"It's a small-college-town type of feel just everything that you kinda want in a program. I've been enjoying this aspect of it. Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a beautiful place."
The lessons and pieces of wisdom Miller has picked up has allowed his coaching philosophy to morph into something new.
He credits that in large part to his list of employers and bosses.
"Philosophically, I gain more experience, and there are some things you have higher morals on and you live on," Miller said. "You have your non-negotiables. You have some things that you truly believe in and stick to those. But as you go year-to-year, you learn what things work and what doesn't work.
"Just try to piece things off of that going into each year. There's been a lot of growth. You gotta realize the type of players that you're coaching."
Growing and sustaining a relationship with players has evolved, especially during this age of college athletics with athletes moving on to different schools, every year it seems, through the NCAA transfer portal.
"It's definitely been an experience to go through, being that it just so happened I decided to get into coaching right in the middle of so much change in college football," Miller said. "The big thing, with the portal, is knowing that one year your room could be full of eight guys that you trust in, then next year, you might only have two guys left from the year before.
"After my first year here, we wound up losing 19 of 22 starters to the portal. It was a big adjustment. Out of my room this past year, I only lost one guy, thank goodness."
Miller played for the Mountaineers from 2007 to 2011 and did so for three coaches.
His freshman season was Rodriguez's last, then Miller played for Bill Stewart and Holgorsen.
Miller's first season in Morgantown featured the infamous 13-9 loss to Pitt.
That loss still sticks in the back of Miller's mind, along with players, coaches and fans, almost two decades later.
Miller's last season saw WVU claim a 21-20 victory over the Panthers, which was the last time the two foes met for 11 years before playing again in 2022.
That one-point victory served as a triumph game for West Virginia and will forever be memorable for Miller.
Miller finished with 12 tackles and four sacks in the one-point victory. His four sacks are still tied for second in a single game at WVU.
"I was there that night for that loss," Miller said of the 2007 contest. "It's a game that we always say we don't talk about, we don't mention up there. The impact of that game and how I viewed Pitt for the rest of my time at WVU, it really set the tone. You flash forward to a year from that, I actually got my very first start as a Mountaineer versus Pitt.
"I took it upon myself to take those two years to reflect, especially when it came to that game, because it was always a special time of the year for me. The 2011 game was not only our senior night, but it was my birthday."
Miller added: "I don't know if there was something with the moon or something going on out there, but, with it being my birthday, I wanted to show out. Not only did I want to show out, it was my last game at Milan Puskar Stadium. We wanted to make sure we set the tone and made sure they remembered us."
