MOST INTERESTING MAN

Riders coach CFL's 'Most Interesting Man'
By: Ed Tait

Saskatchewan Roughrider Ludovic Kashindi enjoys the privilege of a chat with head coach Ken Miller, the Most Interesting Man in the CFL, on Wednesday. (DAN RIEDLHUBER / REUTERS)

EDMONTON -- Maybe you've seen those 'Most Interesting Man in the World' beer commercials featuring the gravelly-voiced elderly gentleman surrounded by attractive ladies who offers up his views on life and wraps up the spots with the tag line: 'Stay Thirsty, My Friends.'

Small confession: I love that guy.

I love that, according to the ads on TV, he 'once had an awkward moment, just to see what it feels like.' That he 'is the life of parties he never attended' and that 'he's been known to cure narcolepsy just by walking into a room.'

The epitome of cool? Hey, remember 'his personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards' and that 'alien abductors have asked him to probe THEM.'

We bring this up today because it was not long into Wednesday morning's annual Grey Cup coaches' press conference when it hit me like a 2 x 4 across the lips: The Most Interesting Man in the World and Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Ken Miller must have been separated at birth.

Yes, if the Riders' 69-year-old boss was to throw on a black sports jacket, lose his glasses and grow a beard you'd swear he could be featured on all those commercials. And Miller has got the interesting game down pat, too.

Fact is, Miller might just be 'The Most Interesting Man in the CFL.' Sure, his resumé overflows with football accomplishments -- he also coached baseball -- but he was also a high school biology teacher, paints landscapes to relax and is so adored in the Rider locker-room most of his charges would, literally and figuratively, go through a wall for the man.

Look, there are a lot of reasons the Roughriders are back in the championship game, including their deep Canadian talent, the emerging star that is quarterback Darian Durant and a superb coaching staff and front office. But make no mistake, Miller is steering the Rider bus. He is unquestionably their leader and most certainly the main reason so many in the organization have learned to deal with the heartache and scars that came courtesy last year's Grey Cup loss.

That much had already been established during the 2010 regular season but it was hammered home during Wednesday's gathering with the football press from across the nation.

As expected, the 13th-man angle is being beaten to a pulp here this week and it was the first question asked at the coaches' press conference. Now, granted, Miller has had a year to craft an answer, but what he said during the proceedings Wednesday was a small peek at how he's so cleverly managed the issue.

"For us it's an entirely new game," he began. "For those who talk about revenge or redemption... I have found through the years that's a very poor motivator. That's based on emotion. It's not based on intellect. I think revenge and redemption is shallow intellectually. I think the human mind can hold a positive thought or a negative thought, so from a Rider perspective we would much rather think about what lies ahead of us and what we need to do as opposed to what happened to us."
And then this, later on:

"There's no question about it: it was a devastating loss for me, it was a devastating loss for our players. But every one of us in this room has had something devastating happen to them in their lives -- a loss of a loved one, a failed relationship -- and somehow you compartmentalize that and you put it away somewhere and think about it periodically."

But those are things you don't let affect your day-to-day operation and the way you go about your life and preparing your team.
"That's how I've dealt with it personally and that's how I've asked my players to deal with it as a football team."

And so Miller's formula to success isn't exactly complicated. He treats his players with respect and expects them to approach their craft with a hard-hat and work-boot mentality. An example: his 'Rider Rule' -- be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there and get done what needs to be done while you're there.'

OK, so it's not exactly Churchill-esque, but you get his point here. Do your job, play hard, respect your opponent and the game.
Here's the funny thing about the Rider boss, though: were it not for a phone call from Gary Etcheverry in 2002 -- he was the Toronto Argonauts head coach then and is the Riders defensive coordinator now

-- Miller would likely be at home with his wife Maureen right now, perhaps painting another landscape and maybe helping coach kids on the local high school team.

After all, eight years ago he had already taken early retirement from the University of Redlands and, while teaching biology at a high school, was contemplating helping teach special teams at Riverside City College just to, as Miller put it, "supplement my income for a couple of years before I finally slammed the gavel on everything and rode off into the sunset."
Instead, Miller came north to help Etcheverry, coached with the Argos until 2006 -- in that first year he had a sleeping bag under his desk and would roll it out when he was tired and sleep at the office

-- before joining Kent Austin's staff in Saskatchewan in 2007 as dioffensive co-ordinator. After Austin left, then

-GM Eric Tillman promoted Miller to head coach and all he's done is lead the Riders to two straight division finals and twice been a finalist for the CFL's coach-of-the-year award.

But his impact goes beyond the field. This multi-layered man -- The Most Interesting Man in the CFL -- has reached his players in a way many coaches cannot even imagine. And if he is coaching his last game this Sunday, as has been speculated, they'll deeply miss the grandfather figure.

"He's been around awhile, he's a very intelligent person with a lot of interests," said Rider veteran lineman Gene Makowsky. "He's a strong family man. He's always telling us to keep that as the main thing in your life. When things don't go well and break down you'll always have your family to fall back on.

He's just been so steady. Everyone that's been around him respects him. We'll go through a wall for him."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca