Why TCU running back Kendre Miller deserves to be in the conversation with the nation’s best
Max Duggan has deservedly earned plenty of praise for how he’s helped the TCU offense improve to one of the best in the nation.
He’s not alone in the TCU turn around. In the backfield with him is one of the most productive running backs in the country, though those outside of Fort Worth have yet to catch on to the talent of Kendre Miller.
Let’s run through some numbers as to why Miller has a case as being one of the best running backs in the country, not just the Big 12.
Miller leads all Power Five running backs in career yards per carry. He’s tied at the top of the Big 12 for yards per carry this season with 6.9 yards.
He’s scored a rushing touchdown in every game and leads the Horned Frogs’ offense with six total touchdowns. It’s fair to say Miller doesn’t get talked about enough nationally.
“I don’t think he does, I’m hoping that he starts to,” head coach Sonny Dykes said. “Kendre can’t control what somebody writes about him or says about him. But he can control the way he prepares, the attitude and the toughness he plays with on Saturday. I think he’s really in a good place and an outstanding running back.”
With 474 yards, Miller is on pace to shatter his previous career-high of 623 yards and needs two touchdowns to surpass his career-high on seven rushing touchdowns. The chemistry between him and the offensive line has been rock solid.
“We talk about it during practice everyday, we’re just trying to do better than what we did last week and try to outdo our previous performance. Now we’re doing it against better opponents,” Miller said after the Oklahoma win.
Miller was already productive last year, but credits the arrival of running backs coach Anthony Jones as one of the reasons he’s been able to take the next step in his development.
“He’s helped me when it comes to the second level, against safeties and corners and being able to make them miss. I think that really helped level my game up over the previous years,” Miller said.
All of 6-feet, 220 pounds Miller is a load to bring down for any player on the defense. He’s gotten to the point where it rarely seems like the first defender is able to bring him and if he does get to those secondary players, well let’s just say good luck to them.
“I pride myself on that. Coach Jones is a good coach, he really leveled all of our games up when it comes to breaking tackles and making people miss. I really feel like it’s helped us and it’s really starting to show,” Miller said.
Jones’ success with developing running backs at Memphis is well documented as players like Tony Pollard, Darrell Henderson, Antonio Gibson and Kenneth Gainwell are all in the NFL.
They were much smaller backs than Miller, but Jones’ teaching principles didn’t change.
“I just wanted him to slow the game down a little bit,” Jones said. “On the field just seeing things before they happen, knowing how to run and not just being a runner. I just wanted him to expand his knowledge of the game, like pass protection and the different tracks he can take on certain runs. How he can get to point A to point B without wasting motion.”
It’s always easy to teach when you have a pupil that’s eager to learn.
“He’s a great young man who’s been buying in to what we’re trying to teach him and show him. He’s understanding the integral parts of playing running back. He’s developed and you can see his game take an extra step each game,” Jones said.
Miller has had to do more with less carries compared to some of his fellow Big 12 running backs like Bijan Robinson and Deuce Vaughn. Miller is barely in the Top 10 in the conference in carries, but is third in yards per game. That’s by design.
Knowing how deep the Big 12 is, the staff doesn’t want to run Miller into the ground too early in the schedule. It also helps that Emari Demercado has been extremely productive when he’s gotten carries too.
“Kendre’s healthy, he’s fresh and that’s something we take pride in,” Jones said. “You’ve also seen Emari make some runs that I’m sure he would’ve made last year or the years before. He seems a step quicker.”
While Miller has the physique and game to be a more throwback bell cow, the staff is thinking long-term. Not just for this season, but also Miller’s future career. Jones said one of the areas he focused on was teaching him not take unnecessary hits.
It’s all apart of the plan. He may not get the 25 or 30 carries in a game like some of the other leading ballcarriers in the nation, but odds are he’s going to be just as productive. Sooner or later, people outside of Fort Worth will start taking notice.
“He definitely deserves that recognition. We’ve known what type of running back he is, we had Zach Evans last year and those two paired together I felt like it didn’t really give him the opportunity to shine. I’m excited to see that he’s started to get that recognition and hopefully people will start taking us and him seriously,” team captain Steve Avila said.
Miller has had three straight games with at least 88 rushing yards including 136 against Oklahoma on just 10 carries. If he can continue that streak against No. 8 Oklahoma State, which holds opponents to 3.5 yards per carry, then there will be no choice but to include Miller in the conversation with the best of the best.
This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
