The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Todres | Miller must get used to the pressure

When Glen Miller arrived in West Philadelphia three years ago to be introduced as the next coach of Penn, he was greeted with something he had not come to expect in his prior 15 years as an NCAA coach: a legitimate press conference.

Roughly eight reporters from The Daily Pennsylvanian and many more members of the local media huddled around him to get a close look at Fran Dunphy's replacement.

After the reporters finally switched off their tape recorders and shuffled out of the Palestra, Penn's Director of Athletic Communications, Mike Mahoney, turned to Miller and warned him to get used to all of the attention. In the world of Penn Athletics, men's basketball is king.

But on that day, Miller viewed all of this interest in his appointment as a welcomed relief.

"I'm not even sure The Brown Daily Herald knew we existed," he said jokingly to Mahoney.

Exactly three years and one day after Miller first tied on the red and blue-striped tie, he found himself facing another intense question and answer session. But this time, the media wasn't even invited. Yet being forced to face angry fans wasn't the relief Miller had in mind at his introductory press conference.

Imagine a town hall meeting about the state of affairs on the basketball teams at Brown, or even Connecticut College, where Miller began his head coaching career. Those schools could count the number of their basketball supporters on one hand.

But this is Penn, where the basketball program is rich in tradition and does not get taken lightly. And to long-time Penn supporters, the only thing more frustrating than losing is feeling alienated by the program.

Contrary to what some might think, Miller cares deeply about fans' perceptions of him and the basketball program. He reads the media coverage, the blogs, the message boards and the comments. He hears the jeers and taunts at the Palestra and is affected by them.

It might not be a coincidence that Penn's road record this season was much better than its record at home.

The reality is that when Miller first accepted the Penn job, he thought he had signed up to coach basketball and recruit. To this point, he has had trouble embracing that his responsibilities entail much more than coaching basketball.

He has always been a basketball coach, but he has never needed to be a politician. At the Palestra, however, an actual governor observes some of his games first-hand. This level of outside interest in the basketball program has caught Miller off guard time and time again likely because he never had any experience dealing with it before coming to Penn.

By all accounts, Sunday's town hall meeting did not contain much substance, but it was a step in the right direction. That's because it forced Miller and Penn fans to interact in a constructive fashion - not in an emotionally charged setting in the heat of the moment, as is the case at games.

In the future, however, these interactions cannot be forced and must occur frequently. That is, if he wants to remain at Penn for the long haul.

There are plenty of terrific basketball coaches who never quite figure out how to handle all of the external pressures and responsibilities of coaching at a popular program. On a larger scale, Billy Gillispie could not survive at Kentucky for this very reason.

Penn might not be Kentucky, but the Palestra is and always has been the grand stage for Ivy League basketball.

Based on my personal dealings with Miller, I believe that he might be one of the most misunderstood figures at Penn. But that is his problem to correct. The town hall meeting is only the beginning.

Miller still appreciates the opportunity to steward a basketball program that people actually care about. But if he does not want to take the time to reach out to the community on a constant, voluntary basis, then - win or lose - Penn is simply not the right fit for him.

Andrew Todres is a senior political science and history double major from New York. His e-mail address is todres@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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Comments (6)

Whitewash - I really think that Mr. Todres' article lays to rest the "Fire Glen Miller" question - he's not going and has a year to pull it out. Per his previous articles and posts it's a stretch to link Todres to any whitewash, but I do agree the Town Hall was a PR event that exposed even larger questions that weren't addressed. 1) Todres is spot on in describing the essence and importance of Penn BB, and Coach Miller's failure to be at one with it. This failure is not new and was reported during championship year 1. Who more than former star BB player and now AD Bilsky should have spotted the disconnect as it was beginning, and fixed it? Where was he? 2) If as Todres writes, the next season doesn't work out, who will fix the program, and why should he be trusted? 3) Question for Todres, would your or the DP's access to the Athletic Department be jeopardized by tough reporting on Mr. Bilsky? 4) As the title states, the Athletic Director is responsible for directing. FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS NOT INCLUDING'08-'09 PENN MEN AND WOMEN'S TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS ANY GIVEN YEAR IS ABOUT 20%+ OR -. THIS YEAR HAS BEEN EVEN WORSE. Forgetting the # of Ivy titles not won and the damage to the BB heritage, in fact the AD has presided over an overall degradation of the program that's not competitive. Individual sport successes such as Fencing and Women's Lacrosse and Squash are outliers, and a tribute to their respective coaches. 5) During this same period notice the rise in both competitiveness and successes of the Cornell program, which not too long ago was bringing up the rear with Columbia. Even Columbia's program is now on the upswing. The data that supports these observations are on the Ivy League Sports website! 6) How about doing an article on the AD and the overall program, and in the mean time doing a Bilsky blog on the Buzz? Seriously, if there was one for Coach Miller, why not one for Bilsky? Thanks...EN

Isn't he an acolyte of Jim Calhoun? How could he not know the media expectations that would be involved?

Please, what kind of newspaper coverage is this? Did anyone ask a hard question of our Big Band leader? Why is everyone jumping ship? Did anyone see Governor Rendell leading a kid with a paper bag over his head that read "Penn Fan" on it to be interviewed by the press at the half of our last home game? The only saving grace is that the level of discontent will be ratcheted up notch by notch until it takes Bilsky too....

[QUOTE id="35fc80ac-9390-40a9-8e4f-2bfea8b22b7a"]The Town Hall was the AD's "cutesy" and "clever" way to put out a positive vibe that he was actually "doing" something. Instead we got a canned Q/A session that pointed out more of the AD's flaws than anything else. He runs a horrible athletic program. His flagship sports stink. The students dont care. The alums dont care. He chased out the fencing coach. So he cobbles together a phony baloney session with his groundrules and his agenda. He is the real problem. I feel bad for Miller (who has his own problems) but he probably didn't know what he was getting into when he decided to work for SJB. And can someone please press the AD about his missing ring[/QUOTE] FOJL, Ben, Whitewash and Penn Sports Fans - Please consider continuing this discussion on The Buz at the Andrew Scurria Town Hall blog. Thanks...E

To Site Administrator - Please fix the message counter on front page that fails to capture new messages as they are posted, thus implying inactivity. Thanks...EN

The Town Hall was the AD's "cutesy" and "clever" way to put out a positive vibe that he was actually "doing" something. Instead we got a canned Q/A session that pointed out more of the AD's flaws than anything else. He runs a horrible athletic program. His flagship sports stink. The students dont care. The alums dont care. He chased out the fencing coach. So he cobbles together a phony baloney session with his groundrules and his agenda. He is the real problem. I feel bad for Miller (who has his own problems) but he probably didn't know what he was getting into when he decided to work for SJB. And can someone please press the AD about his missing ring

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