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On Friday, June 12, 2020, Gregg Miller, loving husband and father of two children, passed away at age 65. Gregg was born April 11, 1955 in Columbus, OH to Keith and Joann Miller. After graduating from Eastmoor High School, he received his bachelor's degree from Miami University in 1976. On June 13, 1981, Gregg married Sabrina Marie Burgess before later raising his two sons, Brent and Ryan. Aside from his outdoor passions for fishing and golf, Gregg is best known for the tremendous impacts he had on the Columbus community as a teacher, coach, and mentor for over three and a half decades. He never met a student he couldn't reach, a player he couldn't coach, or a person he couldn't befriend. His purpose in life was to improve the lives of those he could, and he accomplished this through discipline, structure, and unwavering support and guidance for his student-athletes. While he was a former Miami basketball player and then high school basketball coach, Gregg was tapped in the mid-80's as the successor to Brookhaven's head football coach, Gary Carter. His initial response to Coach Carter was, "…but I'm a basketball guy…?" The tone changed quickly as Gregg built one of the all-time perennial powerhouses, averaging nearly 8 wins a season for the next 17 years. With a 130-58 record (69.1) and 10 league championships, Gregg often said the only tarnish on his record was not eclipsing the 70 win percentage. As he put it, and always thinking beyond the obvious, "if you don't win it all, you always end the year with a loss." Seven of his fifty-eight losses came as a result of deep runs into the Ohio State Football Playoffs, threatening or outright decimating some of the best teams in the state. Following his many years at Brookhaven, and later shorter stints at Independence, Walnut Ridge, and Gahanna, Gregg was able to strike a second time on the east side by taking over the reins at Mifflin. An often overlooked opponent, Coach turned the 1-9 Punchers into legitimate heavyweights by his third year, again reaching premier status with an 8-2 record. The playbook on the field had changed with the times, but the playbook off the field remained the same. Discipline, structure, trust, respect, guidance, mentorship, brotherhood, and resilience were his go-to plays and the results spoke for themselves. In a recent Columbus Dispatch article, former players and opponents talk about his selflessness in promoting and helping uplift young men from all over the city, not just those with 'Bearcats' or 'Punchers' embroidered on their chests. Coach loved the city league, he loved football, and he loved watching his thousands of kids band together and succeed. His love for the city was rewarded in 2019 with his induction into the Central District Hall of Fame. "If you take care of me, I'll take care of you!" Maybe, the greatest quid-pro-quo agreement in the history of man. Gregg taught his players from day-one that they were required to buy-in to the program, respect each other, themselves, and their parents and teachers. He taught them that discipline, routine, and hard work was rewarded. For those that submitted to the process… whether they liked it, agreed with it, or could handle it… they were handed opportunities to leave their mark on a storied program. In exchange for their commitment, Coach promised his players unwavering support and guidance. He was their coach, their teacher, their mentor, their friend, and in many cases their father-figure. He taught them to be strong, resilient young men. He picked them up before practice, he dropped them off at night. He gave them beds in his home when they had no place else to go. He found state funding to feed them the meals they were missing when not at school or practice. He celebrated with them when they won and prayed with them when they lost. He travelled with them to college visits and spent years of his life hunched over a VCR tape-dubbing machine to hand-compile game clips for recruiters. He watched the successes of those that escaped their hardships, and mourned inconsolably with the families of those who passed before their time. "Is it broken or bleeding? Then why are you crying." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Rhetorical. At first it sounds barbaric, insensitive, neglectful… but the message is there. Gregg didn't believe in self-pity or succumbing to adversity. His two sons Brent and Ryan were connected at his hip for every practice, game, or event that had anything to do with football or the Bearcats and learned at a young age what it would take to make it in this world. He let his lessons on the field, translate to life off it. Ryan, born early in October, attended his first home football game at 2 weeks old. His older son Brent, just three years old the next summer, would blow the whistle for Gregg to start sprints during two-a-days. Whether it was the climb toward 40 40's, or after-practice "Millers" for those caught wearing jewelry during practice or leaving their lockers unlocked, Brent and Ryan were always there watching (and learning) from the discipline Gregg was building in his players. And while Coach was working on scout tapes in the office, or lining his gamefield by hand, Brent and Ryan had 65 big brothers and babysitters watching them run rampant between Karl and Maize roads. Gregg asked those around him to trust his process and to never give up; in exchange, he promised to never give up on them. The unsung hero of Gregg's incredible journey was his wonderful wife, Sabrina. While you may not know it at first, Sabrina can spot a hold or block in the back faster than the line judge can get his flag out of his belt. Maybe it was the fact that she was required to watch Gregg, Brent, and / or Ryan coach, play, attend, or watch football on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday every week for 35 years, but her selflessness and kind heart meant she never uttered a single complaint. Sabrina is a football mom, was a football wife, and made sure her sons and hundreds of 'adopted' sons felt her support day in and day out. For all the amazing things Gregg was able to accomplish, his loving wife was the foundation for all of it. Gregg was preceded in death by his father Keith, and is survived by his mother Joann, brother Chris, wife Sabrina, sons Brent and Ryan, and the thousands of lives he touched as a coach, teacher, and friend. A private memorial service will be held on Friday June 19th, followed by an open celebration of his life at his local, Cornerstone Pub in Gahanna, throughout the evening. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Gregg's memory to the Simba Program, an affiliate of the Franklin County Child Services Agency which, for the past 32 years, has built character and provided critical guidance and mentorship for at-risk children and young men in the Columbus community. Please visit https://childrenservices.franklincountyohio.gov/how-to-help/donor-opportunities.cfm and click on the 'Children's Fund' donation link. Please add 'Simba Program' to the comment line when filling out the donor information. Gregg and Sabrina would have celebrated their 39th anniversary the day after his passing.

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Gregg Lee Miller

April 11, 1955 - June 12, 2020

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