Flyers coach has support of brother

Brother Acts

Brother combinations working as Division I head basketball coaches:

Sean (Arizona) and Archie (Dayton) Miller

Bill (New Hampshire) and Tom (Marshall) Herrion

Scott (Baylor) and Bryce (Valparaiso) Drew

First-time head coaches almost always have mentors in the profession who can help them navigate through their first few seasons on the job.

Archie Miller, the first-year University of Dayton basketball coach, admits he’s needed that and has talked to his primary confidant every day since landing the position in April. That may be asking a lot of someone to be so accessible, but he’s never had to worry whether he’s imposing or if his calls are an inconvenience.

After all, that’s what brothers are for.

Sean Miller, the former Xavier and current Arizona basketball coach, is Archie’s older brother by 10 years and has been helping to equip the Flyers’ new boss for his maiden season.

“It’s invaluable,” Archie said. “It’s like having an opportunity to talk to, in my opinion, one of the nation’s best coaches five times a day. We don’t talk about basketball 100 percent of the time. But as we plan and as we talk and as we exchange practice films — I watch his and he watches mine — for me to have an opportunity to talk to him on a daily basis is second to none.”

Sean Miller has emphasized that building a winning program doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers, telling Archie that the next two years or so may be the toughest stretch in his career.

“At Xavier, my first year, we were 17-12. My second year we were 21-11. We lost 23 times in two years,” Sean said in a phone interview. “I was just trying to make it to my third year as a head coach.”

Xavier fans were growing restless with Miller during his second season — especially with him having followed the revered Thad Matta, who left for Ohio State — but that changed when the Musketeers won the Atlantic 10 tourney title in Cincinnati and reached the NCAA tournament after going 8-8 in the league.

“Nothing could have prepared me in that 24-month period of time for how hard it is to lose and how hard it is to get things right,” Sean said.

Archie Miller has been on a relentless pace since he arrived at UD. And while he’s shown no signs of wear so far, he has a sympathetic ear in Sean.

“No matter how much as a head coach you want to slow down, you just can’t slow down. There’s too many things that have to be in place,” Sean said. “You’re trying to meet the community, which is really important — especially at a place like Dayton. Recruiting is the lifeblood of your program, and you’re behind the 8-ball. ... And when you’re moving your family, that takes a lot of energy.

“But that pales in comparison to when the games start. When the games start and you’re dealing with the consequences of winning and losing, that’s where I think as a first-year head coach you have a really different feeling.”

Both Millers played high school basketball for their father, John Miller, in Beaver Falls, Pa. Sean was a star point guard at Pittsburgh while Archie was growing up and then took an assistant job at North Carolina State and recruited his brother for the Wolfpack.

As Archie was leading N.C. State to an NCAA tourney trip as a senior in 2002, Sean was in his first year as an assistant at Xavier.

After taking over for Matta in 2004, Sean would have hired Archie but couldn’t because of Xavier’s nepotism policy. After landing at Arizona in 2009, though, Sean didn’t hesitate to pluck his brother off Ohio State’s staff and make him associate head coach.

During some of their daily conversations, Sean oftentimes is the one seeking insight.

“One of the things about him is, for as successful as he is, he’s always willing to learn — regardless of whether I’m talking to him or it’s somebody else,” Archie said. “He’s always looking for ways to help his program.”

Archie Miller will try to implement the offensive and defensive schemes his brother utilized in taking Xavier and Arizona to the Elite Eight. Flyer fans, though, should brace themselves for a few bumps in the beginning, according to Sean Miller.

Although they’ve reached the postseason the past four years, the Flyers have gone 8-8 or worse in the Atlantic 10 in five of the past six seasons. Their average finish in that span is seventh.

“That’s reality. There’s no smoke and mirrors,” Sean said. “You can’t play the game of, ‘Well, what about this or that?’ There’s no excuses. What place did you finish in the Atlantic 10 the last five or six years? And whatever place that’s averaged out to, because of the circumstances, I think Dayton will have a hard time being that good. Now, in the future, hopefully, they’ll be even better.”

Sean Miller said he’s always kept track of the scores of Ohio State and Xavier games because of his connections there — and he’ll add another school to the list.

“I’ll always know the score of Dayton,” he said. “Obviously, we’re all — not only myself but everybody out here — really pulling for Arch to do a good job.

“I think in many ways he has a really tough beginning because I think Dayton, deservedly so, invests so much into their program (and expectations are high). They have an incredible fan base.

“But the reality of their circumstances is it’s going to take some time. But I think in time, he’ll really be able to do a terrific job there.”