BASKETBALL: Danbury coach Joe Miller steps down after eight seasons

DANBURY TWP. — In a surprising move, Joe Miller ended his tenure Tuesday as the Danbury Lakers’ coach after eight seasons.

“I’ve really enjoyed my high school coaching career, first at Margaretta, then at Oak Harbor and now at Danbury,” Miller said. “These eight years have been great. I’ve had the chance to coach a lot of wonderful young men, and I have some great memories.”

Danbury’s season ended Friday with a 61-59 loss to Monroeville in a Division IV sectional final. The Lakers finished 10-11 overall and 5-7 in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference.

In his career, Miller, who was head coach at Danbury from 2002-10, finished with a 101-73 (.580) record and won the TAAC twice (2003, ’05). His teams finished the season ranked 16th in the state in 2003, 10th in 2004 and sixth in 2005. The Lakers won three sectional championships and one district title, advancing to regionals in 2003.

“We did a lot with what we had here in eight years,” Miller said.

Miller was hired as the Danbury High School assistant principal in 2002, then as the middle school head principal in 2008. Those responsibilities, he said, factored into his decision.

“Because of the increasing demands of being a middle school principal, it’s been hard to balance that with being the head coach,” said Miller, who plans to spend more time with his children and hopes to watch them compete in sports.

Danbury athletic director Drew Davie, who is also the JV coach and was an assistant to Miller the past four seasons, said the school will post an opening for the job in April, with the goal of hiring a new coach in May or June.

“In my four years with him, we’ve had some good runs,” Davie said. “I know that when he first got here, he had some pretty good teams. His team with Jake Fanning back in 2003 made it to regionals.”

As for the influence Miller had on his players, Davie said, “His kids always played hard and respected him.”

One of the highlights of Miller’s career came this season when he earned his 100th coaching victory Feb. 12 as the Lakers rallied to defeat TAAC powerhouse Toledo Christian 54-52 in overtime. It was just Toledo Christian’s second home loss in the past four seasons.

Miller didn’t completely rule out a return to coaching.

“Maybe it’s permanent, maybe it’s not. As for right now, it’s time for me to focus on other things,” he said. “I want this to be thought of more as a celebration of what we’ve accomplished as opposed to it being a time of sorrow because I’m leaving.”