Miller signs commitment to play for Mountaineers

Landon Miller, a senior at Gunnison High School, has committed to play football at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, following in the footsteps of his father.

“It's been my dream to play college football forever because my dad, he played at Western,” said Miller. “That's kind of like what drove me to play more. I wanted to be more like my dad.”

Miller’s football career got its start in seventh grade. He wasn’t allowed to play before that, but he said that whenever he had the chance to play football, whether it be with friends or at recess, he was out there playing.

After middle school, Miller played all four years of high school, but it didn’t necessarily start the way he had expected. In his first game as a freshman, Miller broke his arm and needed surgery. His freshman season was over.

This didn’t stop Miller though.

He came back the next year and split his time between the junior varsity team and the varsity team. Before his junior season Miller grew and continued to improve. In his final two years as a Cowboy, Miller was a starter on the varsity team.

At the start of his junior year, Miller’s parents Josh and Angela Miller realized that there was a real possibility he could play college football.

“The way he carried himself on the field, the way that he was achieving on the field, I thought, yeah, he could go to the next level,” said Miller’s father Josh Miller. “His dedication and his commitment to what he was doing and how he was going about it really showed me.”

Miller’s recruitment process began his sophomore year. With the help of his coaches and parents he started to reach out to schools, attend junior day visits and camps in the summer. During his junior year he began to whittle the number of schools down and by senior year he only had two options.

Miller focused on Western Colorado his senior year, attending a team camp and participating in individual visits. He was given an offer from head coach Jas Bains and his staff to join the team for the 2026-27 season and on Wednesday, Feb. 4, Miller signed with the Mountaineers.

“I'm extremely proud of him,” said Miller’s mother Angela Miller. “He's done everything that he needed to do to get to this point. He just did it all, which showed to me that he had the drive and he really wanted to do this.”

The decision to go to Western Colorado was an easy one for Miller. 

Miller’s father Josh was a defensive end and a long snapper for Western Colorado from 1995 to 1999. As a kid, Miller grew up going to games with his dad. Josh Miller remembers playing catch with his son on the field before the games.

“He's grown up playing on that field,” said Josh Miller. “It's just kind of second nature. He's just always been up there. It was kind of bittersweet for him to start his college career where I ended mine.”

Miller is also excited because he gets to stay close to home and his family, he knows people at the school and on the football team already and he knows that being a part of the program at Western Colorado is going to push him as a football player and as a man.

Despite playing left tackle, defensive end and long snapper in high school, Bains and his coaching staff are recruiting the 6-foot-4 205 pound Miller to play a new position, tight end.

“I'm really excited,” said Miller about playing tight end. “If I get to catch the ball, that's going to be awesome. I've wanted to play tight end since middle school.”

Regardless what position he plays, Miller is going to bring his rah-rah energy to campus and help the team in any way, even if that means being a tackling dummy practice. Miller emphasized that he is ready to do whatever it takes to work hard for the team.

Miller knows the jump from high school won’t be easy. He’s heard from his dad and others that the college game is much faster and physical. He knows that when he steps on the field he’ll be competing against players from across the country that were the best at their high schools. 

But Miller is ready.

As his son embarks on his new life at Western Colorado, Josh Miller emphasized the importance of hard work and resilience, noting that “even though it’s going to be tough, you have to listen, learn and grind to get better every day.”