Buford's Harry Miller strives to be elite on and off the field
Buford, Georgia's Harry Miller has become one of the most sought after 2019 offensive guards in the country since he landed his first offer in April. Stanford has yet to join the list of schools offering scholarships, but Miller said he is “very interested” in seeing The Farm and building a relationship with the Cardinal coaches.
Virginia Tech offered Miller on April 3 and since then football coaches at schools such as South Carolina, Florida, Texas A&M, Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State, Auburn and most recently Alabama have told the sophomore he has an offer.
“It’s been really crazy,” he said. “I’ve been taking care of what’s at Buford and working for Buford and then everything else takes care of itself outside of that.”
Miller created his Hudl highlight in February and has gone to several camps this spring. He also said Buford head coach John Ford and the team’s recruiting coordinator/running backs coach Fryone Davis have helped get his name out to schools.
“I worked hard in the spring and a lot of schools I’ve been talking to liked my spring film,” Miller said.
It can be difficult for coaches to evaluate sophomore offensive linemen given how much they still have to develop physically. Miller has noticed the changes within his own game in the months since his sophomore season ended.
“So much can happen in a few months,” he said. “It’s crazy to think what can happen in two years. I’m really excited because there is such a high ceiling for what I can do and I’m really excited to try to reach my full potential.
“I’m becoming more coachable and more knowledgeable about the game and about schemes. As a sophomore when you play games, especially against the great competition Buford plays against, it’s really intimidating. But I feel now that I’ve gotten more reps and unlocked a confidence and a mentality that I don’t care who I am going to line up against. I’m just going to go all out and compete. I’ve prepared enough that what I want to happen is what is going to happen.”
Miller is quickly improving as a football player, but his maturity off the field is even more impressive than his athletic ability. He ended his sophomore year ranked No. 1 in his class with only As on a transcript full of AP and honors courses. He targeted the No. 1 spot as soon as he got to high school.
Miller’s goal is to be the best at whatever he does.
“Martin Luther King Jr. talked about if you’re going to be a street sweeper … you’re going to be the best street sweeper you can be,” he said. “I feel like in anything you do you have to do the best that you can do. Otherwise you’re just wasting your time. School is like football; it’s a game and you’re competing with your peers. You have to have an attitude that you’re going to work and do better than other people. The whole world is competition. If you’re not trying to win and feed your family, so to speak, then you’re not doing what you need to do.”
Miller’s mother is a nurse and his father is a jet mechanic. Harry said he’s interested in the medical field and engineering. Another possibility is political science because he wants to understand how politics are changing in the country and beyond.
Given his curiosity about his studies and perspective on competition it’s not a surprise he is interested in Stanford. According to Miller there hasn’t been much contact, yet, between the two sides, but that hasn’t stopped the Millers from researching the school.
“We’ve been looking at schools for their academic rankings and on one list Stanford was fourth,” he said. “That’s insane and something I really like. I’m not afraid of distance and travel if it’s something that can unlock a whole world of possibilities. Stanford is really intriguing … and I’d really like to visit there.
“The football team competes amazingly every year and it’s a really big target for me.”
Miller has a busy summer ahead with visits planned to Michigan and Ohio State toward the end of July.
But more important to Miller is that within a few days he’ll travel to Nicaragua and stay there for two weeks. It will be his third trip to the country since seventh grade to work with an organization connected to his church.
“It’s a world where football doesn’t matter,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many stars you have. It doesn’t matter how many offers you have. It’s just people loving people and loving God. That’s why I love it so much. It really puts things in perspective. It’s the highlight of my year.”
