Make Where You Are the Big Time

A Proactive Coaching podcast interview with Danny Miles — 45-year head men's basketball coach at Oregon Institute of Technology, winner of over 1,000 games (1,040), three NAIA Division II national championships, member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, NAIA Champion of Character Award winner, recipient of the Athletes in Action John Wooden Keys to Life Award, and now athletic director at Cascade Christian High School in Medford, Oregon — hosted by Bruce Brown as part of the "Best Coaches You've Never Heard Of" series. Topics covered: how an injury and three-sport background landed him at Oregon Tech at 23; learning from losing seasons; mentors from fifth grade through the Evergreen Conference; turning points (committing to his own system after a brief Loyola Marymount-style experiment, redshirting freshmen at a tough academic school, and his faith commitment 18 years before retirement); innovations including his VPS statistical system and an early pack-line defense; the "Oregon Tech guy" culture and what it meant to earn the name; and advice for young coaches — protect your marriage and family, and make where you are the big time.