Football began at home for North Dakota State senior quarterback Cam Miller. The player, who was terrific last season, racking up 19 touchdowns while covering 2,687 passing yards, is all set for this fall. Throughout this football journey, one person has always been with the quarterback—his father, Kevin Miller.

Kevin, who was a football head coach himself, is not only the most successful high school coach in Iowa history but also Cam’s first coach. As the North Dakota quarterback from Solon prepares for the season that starts next month, let’s take a look at how the Millers motivated and inspired Cam to be the football player that he is now.

The father-son football duo of Kevin and Cam

Kevin Miller is the biggest supporter of his son Cam. The father of the senior quarterback, Kevin, was the head coach of the Solon football team for 17 years. As Kevin led Solon to win four state championships from 2007 to 2010, one player was always by his side — his younger son Cam.

Kevin, who retired in 2019, reminisced about how emotionally an experience it has been to coach his son and see him play and grow on the field. “As early as kindergarten and first grade, he ( Cam) started off as a water boy and a team manager. So being around the game and seeing some of our players and how they conducted themselves as far as their preparation and how they practiced was big for him,” said Kevin, who believes that exposure to the football environment from a very young age helped his son become a good football player. “He was around a lot of good football players from a very young age. I think that assisted him greatly.”

Cam got his big break as a quarterback in his freshman year, as he secured the spot left open by the drafting of Trey Lance in 2020. Cam considers himself fortunate to have played at the Division I level as a freshman. During his freshman year at North Dakota, Cam played as a QB in the season’s final eight games and started in two playoff games. Cam leveraged that experience to score a team-high 14 touchdowns with a mere three interceptions. He also appeared in 13 games while starting in 8.

Kevin Miller, a QB who won Solon’s state title in 1988, is proud to spend so much time coaching his son. “I just feel very blessed to have the opportunity to coach my son and have the opportunity to spend two to three hours every day with him. Not very many people in their various professions get an opportunity to be able to work with their kids, whether it’s their son or daughter, for two to three hours a day. I don’t take that for granted.”

Cam, who is also proud of being part of his father’s legacy, believes that being part of the winning culture since an early age has helped him transition easily into professional college football.

Mama Miller had set ground rules at home

Nicole Miller, the mother of Cam and the wife of Kevin Miller, always ensured that football never came in between the relationship of the father and son. While Kevin admitted it was difficult to balance the emotional component of coaching his son, they both came not to take the criticisms personally. Nicole also made it a rule at home that the Millers would only talk about football and what happened on the field when Cam wanted to. Nicole was pretty strict about not talking about the negative things at the game or practice at the dinner table.

When Kevin and Cam are not on the ground, they enjoy watching sports on TV, fishing, hunting, golfing, and playing baseball. Cam also has a sister, McKenna, whom he loves dearly.