Tustin's Miller is 2011 coach of the year

Tustin football coach Myron Miller has a simple philosophy.

"I ain't punting," Miller said. "We don't punt the ball with 2 yards to go. We don't do it at any time, no matter what the situation is. I'm not giving them the ball."

OK, that's not Miller's entire philosophy, but it sums up his old-school style.

The Tillers fed off their coach's tough-minded attitude and rode it all the way to a 35-28 triumph over El Toro in the CIF-SS Southwest Division championship. Tustin had been to the finals three times in the past four seasons, but it was the Tillers' first championship since 1948.

Related links:

2011 All-County football first team

El Toro's Manning is 2011 offensive player of the year

La Habra's Porter is 2011 defensive player of the year

2011 All-County football second and third teams

"That's a long time," Miller said. "I was only 5 when they won their last one. It was really good for the school, and I'm not going to have to hear that anymore that we haven't won since 1948, so that's going to be nice."

Miller, who is the Register/OCVarsity.com 2011 coach of the year, said there was nothing better than watching his players celebrate after winning the title.

"It was really a thing of joy," Miller said. "I've never seen a group of kids so happy. They ran up in the stands and they were hugging their parents. It was just a great thing to watch."

The Southwest championship game pitted El Toro's high-flying offense against Tustin's double-wing offense. Tustin rarely throws the ball. The Tillers pound away on the ground and try to wear teams down with time-consuming drives. Many believed the Tillers were doomed when El Toro jumped out to a 21-7 lead.

"I was the most surprised guy in the stadium when they marched down and scored the first three times," Miller said. "I really believed we had a good game plan against what they were going to do and we didn't execute real good the first three drives, but we picked up after that.

"I mean they got some great receivers and that quarterback can put it on the money. I just couldn't believe the first three drives were so easy for them. Luckily, we kind of settled in, got a drive and played a little defense."

Tustin was 5 of 5 on fourth-down conversions against El Toro. Tustin was trying to run out the clock and had the lead when it faced a fourth-and-2 from its 23-yard line with 2 minutes remaining. Punting situation, right? No way. Junior fullback Edward Tandy smashed ahead for 3 yards and a first down. The Tillers ran out the clock and secured the championship.

"I don't think I've ever punted on fourth-and-2 because we're just built for 2 or 3," Miller said. "I mean, that's what we base our whole thing on. I called a timeout and went into the huddle on that last one and basically I told the kids, 'I told you guys there was going to be a time when the game is on the line for 2 yards. It's not a drive that's on the line. It's a game or the championship that's on the line for 2 yards. Let's get it.'

"My kids would really be upset with me if I didn't have the confidence to believe that they could make 2 yards anywhere on the field. In our style of offense, we get a lot of fourth-and-2s and fourth-and-1s. We have to be willing to do it or we'd be giving the ball up too many times. We had five in that game. I can't give up the ball five times for 2 yards or 1 yard."

Tustin lost nonleague games to Upland and Orange Lutheran. Yorba Linda upset the Tillers in league and the Tillers ended up sharing the Empire League title with Cypress and Yorba Linda. It didn't look like the Tillers were ready to make a run at a championship.

"We've been through a lot this year," Miller said. "Things haven't gone our way. We lost three games early in the season and we had a lot of injuries. We came from behind in the last three games. There were a lot of chances where we could have folded. We won every game even though a lot of guys went both ways. It was really gratifying to see and to finally get over the hump.

"It was a great year. I've been told this many times; you just don't know what team is going to get there. I've had teams that I thought for sure, but then we get a bad break or we make a bad play. This team here I did not expect to be in the finals with this team the way things were going. They just didn't care what I expected. They just believed in themselves, got real gritty and came through."

The Tillers will always have a run-oriented offense and a physical defense with Miller as coach. That's Miller's style.

"You do what your kids can do," Miller said. "I don't get many players. I've got an athletic quarterback. We threw a little better. He's an outstanding runner. We may throw a little more next year. I'd like to get more in the passing game.

"I will always be a guy that runs the ball and play-action passes. We threw the ball enough this year that teams didn't put nine in the box or 10 in the box. We weren't blazing the stats up, but even this (championship) game we just missed a connection for a big play the first or second play of the game. We were able to throw the ball a little bit better this year and kept them from putting their safeties and corners in the box and that allowed us to run better this year."

So what makes the Tillers different from other teams?

"Our whole program is based on work," Miller said. "We lift weights. We don't have a sophisticated offense. I tell them, 'Whether it comes to where I'm going to try and be the smartest coach in the world or I'm going to bet on you, I'm going to bet on you.' I keep it simple and try to make them the biggest, strongest, fastest that they can become and then I tell them, 'Go out there and make some big plays and let me be a good coach.'"

The Tillers made plenty of big plays this season and they definitely made Miller a good coach.