Tarleton Football Adds Former Mississippi State Texan Mason Miller as Offensive Coordinator

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton Football has added a familiar face to its coaching staff having spent the past few years coaching in the SEC. Mason Miller has been hired as the Texans’ offensive coordinator in 2023, the team announced Tuesday.

Miller returns to Stephenville, where he coached for three seasons from 2014-16. He was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for all three years, serving under head coach Todd Witten in 2016. He spent the last three seasons at Mississippi State as the offensive line coach in addition to serving as the Bulldogs’ tight end coordinator. year

“I think so much of Mason Miller, he’s a top-notch person that I’ve worked with in the past,” Whitten said. “Our players have really enjoyed his coaching style and he has the ability to coach, teach and work with young people. He’s a really smart, creative football coach. He’s been around some of the best minds in football, Mike Leach and Hal Mame and the lads love it . He will be good for our program and good for our players.”

Miller joined the late Mike Leach’s staff after he arrived at Mississippi State in 2020. In his last two years with the Bulldogs, Miller’s offensive line ranked 2nd in the SEC and 15th in the FBS in offensive line efficiency.

At Tarleton, Miller led his team to third in total offense in 2014, averaging 522.8 yards per game and 43.7 points per game. The exceptional offense continued in 2015 as the Texans averaged 38.1 points and 451.2 yards per contest.

“Our family is very excited to return to Stephenville, where we spent three wonderful years with friends and family,” Miller said. “We’re grateful for the time we spent in Nevada, Washington, and Mississippi. However, we are glad to be home.

“Meghan and I are very grateful to Dr. Hurley, Lon Reisman and especially Coach Whitten for bringing us back,” Miller added. “It was a very pleasant experience. It’s always been a special place for us.”

Miller will inherit a successful offense from a season ago, a Texas group that led the WAC in rushing yards (436.7) and rushing yards (174.6) while ranking second in scoring average (31.0 PPG). Tarleton is also going to return their 1,000-yard running back Derrell Kelly IIItheir receiver is 1,000 yards wide Darius Cooperand their receiver is 800 yards wide Jaden Smith.

Witten, who has fueled the offense, will take over the head coaching duties at Tarleton for the first time in what will be his 14th season in Stephenville.

“I think it’s time to turn it over to somebody else, and Mason Miller, to me, is the perfect person to do that,” Whitten said. “I’m going to move away from being an offensive coordinator and being a playmaker. It will be the first time I do this, so it will be an adjustment for me, but I think it is the best thing for our team and the best thing for our attack. I just think it’s the right time and I’ll be able to better serve as the “CEO” of the program.

“Often I think change is a very good thing,” Whitten added. “I think Coach Miller will bring fresh, new ideas, a little bit of a new approach. Our core values ​​will not change. We’re going to make a real commitment to always drive the ball, be balanced, be explosive and make shots. Coach Miller and I have done all of this together before. We’re really on the same page in how we want to look and how we want to play offensively. For me, he was just the perfect guy to kind of replace myself with, and I just really believe. I believe he is as good as anyone in the country.”

Miller began his full-time varsity coaching career in 2000 and has since been with eight varsity programs over 21 seasons. In between Mississippi State (2020-22) and Tarleton (2014-16), he was the offensive line coach at Washington State (2018-19) and Nevada (2017).

Before joining the Purple and White in 2014, Miller was the head coach at McMurry in 2013, spending four seasons there (2009-12) as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He was the associate head coach and offensive line coach at New Mexico State (2005-08) shortly after a two-year stint at Southeastern Louisiana (2003-04), the first year running the running backs and the second year running the offensive line. He also coached wide receivers and tight ends for a year at Washington and Lee in 2000.

Miller first took the headset as a student coach at Valdosta State after a two-year playing career there. He graduated from Valdosta State in 1997 and took the Wellwood High School job in 1998, where he helped turn around a team that had gone 1-19 the previous two seasons as offensive coordinator. With Miller leading the offense, Valvewood High School earned a playoff berth in 1998 and a state championship in 1999. Miller’s offense was Georgia’s top-rated offense in 1999.

In all, Miller has led various offenses among the nation’s best at all levels of NCAA club football, including the nation’s top offense at Southeastern Louisiana (2004). He also helped build top-five offenses nationally in Tarleton, NM and McMurray.