Adrian Miller is bringing his experience in developing and growing high school athletic programs to Lake Belton High School as he joins the Broncos coaching staff.
“Any time you have a school that is starting out there is going to be certain rough areas that they are going to have to go through,” Miller said. “I think coming over from Ellison and working with backs the last few years, I’ll be able to put my spin on things over here and hopefully have success in that position as well.”
Miller is an alumni of Mary Hardin-Baylor and joins the Broncos football and basketball programs with eight years of coaching experience.
In his previous position at Ellison High School in Killeen, Miller coached the running backs and was previously the middle school coordinator within Killeen ISD.
While holding the position of strength and conditioning coordinator at Ellison, Miller also brings with him experience in creating a program as he established the Eagles power-lifting program in 2015, with three athletes reaching the state competition in 2019.
And while student-athletes use the summer to condition, Miller has a goal of his own.
“My biggest thing right now is coming in and obviously building relationships with them,” he said of working with the athletes. “Getting to know them, them getting to know me and from there, applying my spin and coaching style.”
Miller does not anticipate much of an adjustment period considering the community atmosphere is what drew him to joining the Broncos in the first place.
“I tell everyone that as soon as I walked in here Ms. Jill [Ross] and then Coach [Brian] Cope greeted me with open arms,” he noted.
From there he felt welcomed by the staff and students.
“The kids came up and introduced themselves to me and the rest of the coaching staff welcomed me with open arms,” Miller said. “Right away I felt at home, I never felt like a stranger and it feels like I have been coaching here for years with the rest of the guys.”
The culture that campus coordinator and head football coach Brian Cope has created at Lake Belton in its first season was also a factor in his decision to join the Broncos.
“They are definitely doing things right over here,” Miller said. “They have 400-plus kids at the summer strength and conditioning camp, all the coaches are out here fired up and the kids are really getting after it, so the culture that Coach Cope is building is phenomenal.”
The ‘Rise Up’-mentality, the family atmosphere and the desire to build off yesterday’s successes is a legacy that Miller aims to contribute to.
“The biggest thing is seeing the kids compete and seeing them get better each and every day,” he said. “That is something that I kind of look at and gage their success and my success on– did we learn from yesterday? Did we get better than the day before?– and I believe that when you start to stack those days up, no doubt you will have success.”
Miller added, “There is no separation between sports, there’s no separation between coaches, everyone is in it together.”

By Felisa Cárdenas