On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Steven Miller from the Cumberland University Women’s Flag Football Program in Lebanon, Tennessee. We talk about how he recruits ahead of the curve while looking for players who fit the program culturally and positionally. He describes Cumberland’s traditional campus feel, strong commitment to athletics, and the scholarship opportunities available to flag football players. Lastly, we discuss his relationship-focused coaching style and the fast-paced Air Raid offense the team brings to the field.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Flag. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Miller over at Cumberland. Welcome, Coach.
Coach: Welcome. Thank you very much.
Matt: Yeah, thanks for being here. Like I said, I, I, I did have the opportunity to, uh, to drive through your campus one summer afternoon a couple of years ago, so you’re, you’re, you’re at a nice spot over there, and I guess you guys have had one full season under your belt, is that right?
Coach: Yep. Yeah. We started, last season was our first year, um, playing in the NAIA, so, uh, here in the fall, we’re getting, getting ready to kick off season two.
Matt: Okay. Well, I mean, we’re talking the last day of August, so I’m, I’m, I’m sure students are on campus and, uh, and school has started. But, you know, one of the things I, I, you know, you see a lot on social media is a lot of programs right now st- still taking kids from class of ’26 or, or looking at transfers, or still maybe building that roster towards the spring since we’re here in the fall.
How, where do you guys sit? Are you happy with what you got? Are you locked and loaded, or are you thinking maybe there might be a couple [00:01:00] changes between now and then?
Coach: So, you know, not, I mean, really right now, in terms of the fall roster, we’re pretty much set. We’re locked in, in terms of the fall piece. We do have a player or two that has expressed some interest in maybe coming to the program in the spring, uh, coming in January.
Um, we do have a couple spots available for that. So, you know, we are always looking to add, obviously, quality players to the program and, and so we’ll see how that plays out. Um, but they won’t, they won’t come here, uh, on campus until January. So, uh, they’re gonna have a little bit of time. So, you know, we’re gonna be pretty good for our, you know, our fall practices, our fall ball.
Um, you know, we’re, our roster’s set for the fall.
Matt: Okay. So I’m guessing at, at, at this point, are you looking towards class of ’27 and, and starting to do that kind of recruiting, uh, r- right now?
Coach: Oh, yes. Uh, we actually started… You know, our philosophy is always to recruit about two years, uh, two [00:02:00] years out. So even when we were dealing with class of 2026 players filling out the roster for this fall, we were already engaging with 2027 players and 2028 players in terms of, you know, seeing, you know, their interest level, what they wanna do, where they’re going.
We’ve already have offers out on the table for 2027 players, um, simply because you have a w- you have a number of states, they compete in the fall. Uh, they play their flag, you know, a couple, for example, Alabama and Georgia are a couple that are close by us here in Tennessee. They compete in the fall, so their season’s done by November and December.
So they’re, they’re, those players are looking to, a lot of times, they’re looking to sign in December and make a decision on where they’re gonna go. So you have to recruit ahead of time in terms of that, just to be ready for those players that come out, especially, like I said, in those states that play in the fall.
Most of your spring players, you know, they look a little bit later, [00:03:00] but a lot of those we’ve already been developing relationships with. We’ve already put offers on the table in terms of those players. So- It’s super competitive, Matt. You know, you’ve, you gotta be out there, you gotta be looking ahead, you gotta be building relationships ahead of time, um, and, and, and really trying to get those players to, you know, once again have interest and lock in with Cumberland if that’s what they wanna do.
Matt: Well, and, and you mentioned high school, and I know it’s, it’s great. It, you know, it seems like every month a new state is officially sanctioning a girls flag. But- Yeah … there’s also a strong kinda AAU travel club tournament- Mm-hmm … type community out there. So, uh, and when it comes to your recruiting, uh, you know, I’m guessing you’re, you’re looking high school, but you’re also looking at that stuff, and then they got these combines and clinics and all kinds of stuff out there.
Mm-hmm. So I guess what’s your… Where do you go? Where are you looking to find players both at event, event wise and, like, statewise, right?
Coach: Yeah. Yeah, most definitely. So I mean, we really look all over the place when we’re [00:04:00] doing that. So like you said, you know, your high school is your bread and butter stuff.
It’s what you’re looking at. We’re sanctioned in Tennessee, so we obviously look a lot in Tennessee off of that. But then, you know, you have all your other states that are sanctioned. You hit it definitely with your club stuff. Any state that’s not sanctioned, that’s, it’s gonna be a lot of club stuff that you’re gonna see.
Um, so you’re definitely gonna look at that club stuff. Um, you know, we go to events on and off, uh, in terms of, of looking at players. Example, you know, in July, I was at the Military Bowl out in Williamsburg, Pennsyl- uh, Williamsburg, Virginia, sorry. Williamsburg, Virginia. I was out there, uh, for their Military Bowl out there, you know, working with, uh, athletes, um, so you get an opportunity to recruit as well there.
Um, we look internationally. We’ve talked to a number of players internationally. Flag is really big internationally. Um, so those, it’s gonna be all club because there is no, there’s no high school formats in, anywhere out there. So it’s club stuff a lot there. [00:05:00] Um, and then, you know, you have the transfer piece, uh, which is getting a lot bigger as more schools have added.
You have the transfer piece. We’ve not… We kinda just dipped our toe in it, but I see in the future, uh, that’s gonna get to be a bigger and bigger part too, is players wanting to transfer from other institutions in.
Matt: Well, yeah, and, and I guess that makes sense also for you guys just in terms of roster building.
You don’t wanna have the whole team be freshmen the first year, and then- … now, you know, you gotta, you gotta- Yeah So, so transfers, and that makes sense. So it- I guess, well, when it comes to high school, club, event transfer, whatever the case may be, kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player both on and off the field?
Coach: I mean, so we, we… We’re typically, right now we’re looking more at the high school players. I think because we’re a newer program, we haven’t drawn as much interest from transfers yet, ’cause I think a lot of it’s they’re waiting to see, hey, what’s, what’s the program gonna look like, what’s it gon- is it gonna be [00:06:00] competitive?
So I think they’re… We’ve talked to a couple, but I think there. So I mean, for us, we try to be strategic about it. We try to look at, you know, our roster composition, you know, who we have on the roster that, um, we feel strong about positionally, and then, you know, where do we have holes that we need to go ahead and fill in into certain positions?
You know, do we need a quarterback? Do we need a safety? Do we need receivers? So we try to be really strategic about where we recruit players and put those players in, into our roster, um, not only to fill obviously the possibility of starting positions, but to provide depth as well too. You never know when injuries and things like that can happen, so, you know, we’re same as anyone else in terms of making sure we got good quality depth.
So, you know, we’re always looking for, you know, who best fits our program culturally, um, you know, but once again, can play those positions that, you know, we have the most need for.
Matt: And kind of [00:07:00] a two-parter that’s, uh, related. So I- i- is there a roster size that you’re looking to hit, uh, each year? And then with that, are, are players primarily playing one way, or are they playing both ways for you guys?
Coach: Okay. So we do have a roster number that’s set internally for us that we try to hit every year. Um, we carry 34 on our varsity. Um, that’s our number that we carry, which is a good size number, um, to carry. But we find, you know, in the end, like I said, injuries and things that can come up here in college, it works really well.
Two w- two-way player-wise with a roster at that size, we don’t really have to have too many players play both sides of the ball, as long as I do my job and recruit well. So- But as we’ve moved forward into our second year, we’ve looked at that a little bit more in terms of do we have players that we really feel [00:08:00] can help us a lot on both sides of the ball?
So I think after that first year, philosophically you just kind of evolve a little bit and see, hey, do you have players that are really the best player on both sides of it, or, you know, do you have enough depth to not have to do that for those players? It, it really comes down individually to the player.
You can do it in flag. There’s a lot of great flag players in the college level that play both sides of the ball and are very impactful. So, um, you know, we just, once again, take our time and look at it and really make sure that, hey, that’s the best player on offense, that’s the best player on defense for their position, and we’re, and, and we’re gonna play them, ’cause I- you’re gonna put the best seven on offense, best seven on defense, and if it’s a two-way player, it’s a two-way player.
Um, we, we don’t have any qualms with that.
Matt: Okay. Now, one thing a, a lot of people that I’ve talked to mention is really recruiting athletes, right? And maybe be- you [00:09:00] know, flag is somewhat new, so a lot of times, uh, even the high school flag programs are, you know, maybe they grabbed three or four soccer players, three or four basketball players, three or four volleyball players- Yeah
and, and, and turned them into flag football players. So- Mm-hmm … do you look at that at all? Are you looking at other sports, or is it primarily just I’m looking at people who have had some flag experience?
Coach: So it kind of changed. So the first year when we were recr- when I came here last year to start the program, we were looking really for more athletes than anything else.
Tennessee was only in its first year, like I came in January, the first year for Tennessee flag was that spring. So you got a whole carload of players that unless they were club players or they played, uh, in some pilot programs, um, around the Nashville area with the Titans- You had a lot of players that this was their first exposure to actually playing flag football.
So we were looking at not just people who had [00:10:00] maybe some flag experience, but we were looking for people that were simply athletes as well. They’re, they’re just an athlete. They didn’t have really any experience doing it. Now, year two, as we’ve moved into year two, now that flag’s had a couple years in Tennessee, a lot of your other states, I- we tend not to look just at athletes, just an athlete as much anymore.
There’s so many girls that are playing flag football right now in the United States, internationally, that you can find girls that play flag football, whether it’s high school level or whether it’s club. Now, I will always entertain a player that say, like you said, “Hey, I’m a really good soccer player.
I’ve decided I wanna play flag.” We’re always gonna entertain it and look at them, especially if they’re a high-level athlete. We’re gonna look at them, but it’s not something we have to go out and really- actively recruit. They would almost have to come to us and say, “Hey, this is what I wanna do,” for whatever reason, [00:11:00] and then, then we would have that conversation.
Matt: Okay. Makes sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit a- a- about the school. I know you’ve kind of lived in that area for, for a while, and, uh- Mm-hmm … are probably familiar with the school even though you’ve only- Yeah … been there a year or so. So what, what have you found that, that is really awesome about the school?
Maybe some things folks wouldn’t know even by going through the website.
Coach: Yeah. So, you know, Cumberland University, um, I mean, one of the really cool things is we’re the oldest university in the state of Tennessee. Um, we actually started as a university in 1842, so this is our 185th year as a university, which I think is really cool ’cause a lot of people wouldn’t think of Cumberland as the oldest university in Tennessee.
You always look at the big ones, you know, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, ones of that nature. Um, so I think that that part’s, uh, you know, a really unique part of it, um, that a lot of people wouldn’t know on the w- looking at the website. Mm. We actually used to even have a law school here, um, that was Cumberland Law.
Mm. That was actually s- uh, sold off to [00:12:00] Samford- Okay … University in Alabama, D1 in Alabama. And if you go down there, the law school is still called the Cumberland Law School at Samford. Oh. So just kind of a cool, interesting fact, though sometimes we wonder why we didn’t keep the law school. We, we kind of thought that would be kind of a cool extra thing in terms of it.
Um, another thing, you know, um, athletics is a big part of Cumberland University. Um, we sponsor 33 different sports on campus, so which is bigger than any school in the state of Tennessee, even your big ones on the D1 level. So once again, a lot of opportunities for individuals to come and, you know, be involved in athletics at Cumberland University and a whole bunch of different sports.
So I think that’s another big thing that a lot of people won’t catch when they come on there. You know, and like I said, it’s a university. Um, it’s been here a long time. Um, you know, it’s a big part of the community here in Lebanon. Um, you know, I think it has a really good traditional feel to it, so unless you [00:13:00] were here and on campus, that’s what all the recruits, you know, as I take them around campus to do visits, they say.
You know, it’s got this really cool little traditional feel, kind of nos- I always wanna say, like, a nostalgic feel to it. Um, you know, uh, you know, that, that campus feeling that you’d see, I guess, on TV shows all the time . You know, like, hey, that’s what a college campus is supposed to look like, as compared to obviously the new big campuses nowadays and all the new cool stuff that they build on campuses, um, which is cool.
It’s neat. But, you know, uh, sometimes the, sometimes the traditional and simple I think works pretty well. So, um, you know, I think that’s a lot what Cumberland University has to bring to the table.
Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, you, you, you mentioned the, the school and stuff, but in terms of- You know, financial aid, a lot of people are wondering, okay, flag’s new varsity-wise.
There’s, you know, now every… Seems there’s schools at every division level, right? Mm-hmm. [00:14:00] One, two, three, NAIA, JUCO. Is there potential athletic scholarship money at your guys’ school for flag football?
Coach: Yeah. Yeah, most definitely. That’s a great question. So we do, so- This year, it- flag football in the NAIA is considered a sanctioned sport.
So that means it’s considered the same as any other sport that you would have at the NAIA level, football, basketball, volleyball, any of those. There’s no difference between us and any other sport. The NCAA is currently going through that process. They’ve sanctioned flag for the 2028 season, um, so it’ll be 2028 before they become a sanctioned sport.
We’re already there as a sanctioned sport. So we have athletic scholarships, athletic or academic scholarships available to individuals to come and play. We have that full range of scholarships to offer individuals if they seek to play flag football at the NAIA level and specifically obviously here at [00:15:00] Cumberland.
Um, you know, um, so if someone’s looking and they’re interested, they’re available to them, uh, b- on both sides of it, so I think there’s great opportunities for players to, um, be able to come and get athletic scholarships and academic scholarships to come and play and continue their career at Cumberland.
Matt: Okay, awesome. Well, we ta- we talked about roster size in terms of players. Let’s talk about the rest of the roster, the coaching staff, support staff, who all you got there and what role does everybody play?
Coach: Okay. So I mean, first on the roster staff, you know, uh, we’ve got, uh, this year we’ve got 23 players returning from last year.
Um, pretty much our entire offense is returning from last year, um, so that, and that includes, um, Marley Hyde, who was a first-team All-American last year, um, in the NAIA. So she’s the first All-American in our school history, and she is a first-team All-American on top of that. She returns at wide receiver, um, top three in the nation [00:16:00] in receptions, um, touchdowns, um, yards, and she also led the nation in all-purpose yardage, uh, as well.
So once again, super great player, and I’d like to say, never played flag football. Um, she is, was a sophomore last year, so flag didn’t exist. Um, she actually came to Cumberland as a basketball player, decided that, you know, she wanted to go a different direction. So, um, kinda going back to what we talked about earlier, you know, athletes are athletes.
They can play. So she’s a great example of someone coming over and playing flag and making a huge impact immediately in terms of it. Um, we return, um, you know, quarterback, uh, Madison Woodard, uh, is coming back this year. Had a great year last year, um, second in the nation in, you know, passing yardage. She led the nation in completions and attempts, um, fourth or fifth in touchdowns, so once again, a really big playmaker for us, and we expect great things as she moves forward, you know.
And then we had a couple other really good [00:17:00] receivers, uh, 1,000-yard receivers in Jalia Cole and, uh, Caliana Griggs- Had great years for us last year as well too. You know, put up really big numbers. So on, on the offensive side of the ball, we feel really, really good about where we’re at. Defensively, um, not a bad year.
Um, you know, we had some good players on there. Um, you know, there’s some things I think we’re gonna do differently on that side of the ball for next year. Uh, brought in some, some new freshmen that I think are gonna compete for some positions on that side of the ball. Um, we did have Ava Horgan play linebacker for us last year.
She was second team, uh, all conference for us last year. Um, top 10 in the nation in, uh, flag poles. So, uh, a really, really strong player for us as well. Um, and, and we’ve got some freshmen coming in. You know, we got a good freshman class coming in, about 12 to 13 players that are coming in, um, from some local schools.
Um, though we did draw out a little bit, we do have, uh, we do have a player, uh, Leaha [00:18:00] Akia coming in from Hawaii, so we’re going all the way out to Hawaii. Um, we got Ava Fulcher, she’s coming in from, uh, Oregon. And then, um, we’ve got Alexis Rubin coming in from Alabama. So, um, you know, pulling players from just not Tennessee, but coming out from a little bit farther.
Um, several of them were all-state players in their states as well too. Some were on some championship teams out there. So once again, I think some really good talent that’s coming in for us this year. Uh, coaching staff-wise, we made a couple changes in terms of the coaching staff, added some people, brought in a new assistant coach, uh, Savannah Craighead.
She’ll be working on offense for us. We’re really excited about what she can do for us this year on the offensive side of the ball. Um, did… Now, we use GAs for coaching, so I had a new GA coming this year, uh, Brandon Martin. He’s gonna be working on defense. Uh, he was a football player at Georgetown, uh, in Kentucky.
So once again, bringing some really great experience on that side of the ball. And my [00:19:00] DC Tim Lonsberry’s coming back, uh, from last year, so, um, a lot of experience. So from a staff perspective, I think we’re in really, really good shape. We’re very excited about our additions and, and kind of where we’re gonna go this year.
So, um, very excited about year two and kind of where things are setting up. Um, we feel like, you know, year two is, is that year to jump forward from where we had great foundational year last year, a lot of growth and development. Um, but I think year two is we can, we can go out and, and really, really be competitive, uh, not only in the conference, but you know, hopefully really compete for a shot to get into the NA champ- NAIA championship at the end of the year in May.
Matt: Awesome. Well, what about you? Talk to us about your coaching style and, and maybe kind of just the style of play you guys play there.
Coach: Okay. So, you know, coaching style Coaching style wise, you know, I’m always been one. I’m, you know, a, a big fan of, you know, building relationships with the players. [00:20:00] Um, you know, I’ve always said it’s, it’s more about working with them to get down, get the most out of them.
You know, you always want players to be the best that they can be. So I think it’s, it’s a big thing is just working with the players individually, um, you know, helping them maximize the things that they can do and, and really helping them, you know, get… Excuse me. Helping them, you know, on their weaknesses.
So, um, I think that’s a lot what I try to do, and I think that’s a lot what our staff, you know, looks at do, uh, looks at doing for them as well. Um- In terms of, what was the second part of that?
Matt: Uh, anything about just kind of the style of play or-
Coach: Oh, style of play. Yeah. Yeah, I’m sorry on that. Okay. Yeah, style of play.
So, I mean, uh, offensively, uh, you know, uh, we’re, you know, for people that are familiar with football, we carried it over, right? We’re an Air Raid style offense. We run ver- you know, we run components of the Air Raid, [00:21:00] uh, in our offense. So, you know, we’re a, we’re a big pass. Uh, the NAIA, the flag in general is pretty…
I’ll say NAIA, but flag in general is very heavily pass-oriented. So, you know, I feel like that style fits in really well. So we are a no… We’re a no huddle, get up and down the field, you know, run plays every 10 to 12 seconds. Uh, we, we move quickly. We get up and down the field, um, try stress defenses out, stay very spread out and do it.
You know, you’ll add in a little bit of run game here and there, uh, and kind of salt that in a little bit to try to catch people off guard on the offense. You know, defensively, um, you know, scheme-wise, I, I feel like, you know, we do a lot of the different things that you see in the NAIA defensively. A lot of teams are big zone teams, whether they’re cover three or cover two or they’re a quarters team, whatever they choose to run, what they feel is best.
We kind of fit in that format. You know, we try to switch it up, you know, make it difficult. Flag [00:22:00] offers you a very unique perspective because, you know, you can rush, they take off, but you don’t block. You can’t really block. You can shadow block and move, but you can’t put hands on people. So that offers a much different perspective.
Uh, it moves very fast for quarterbacks, um, coming in. A quarterback has, um, depending upon what happens with a rusher, quarterbacks have a very… it’s very quick, m- much quicker than, you know, um, than what people think it is, and that rusher’s on top of you. So quarterbacks have to make super quick decisions.
So I think, you know, with that, you know, we try to, try to work on the quick game stuff, get the ball out of the hands of the quarterback really quickly. You know, let our receivers go make plays and be athletic. Uh, I think that’s, that’s, that’s what flag is about. That’s the exciting p- part about flag. So I think we try to, try to do that with our [00:23:00] players.
Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, Coach, really appreciate all the insights you’ve given us. Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is, if you had one piece of advice for, uh, you know, any girl going through this kind of college recruiting process for flag, what would that be?
Coach: I think the best piece of advice that I can give girls that are doing it is, you know, if you want to go somewhere and you want to play flag, you know, reach out, reach out to coaches, um, whether it’s email or prospectus if they have, you know, a pros- you know, a prospectus, um, Instagram, social media.
You know, use those mediums and really reach out to coaches and let them know that you’re interested in their program. Start that dialogue. Have film ready, you know? The carry on to that is, though, if the coaches are expressing interest in you, then you need to keep that dialogue going forward. You need to keep that conversation going forward.
Coaches, if they’re gonna reach out, they’re interested. [00:24:00] If a coach is not interested, you might get a quick email back, you might get something on social media that says, “Hey, thanks for reaching out, you know, we’ll get to you.” But if they’re asking, starting to ask you some questions, even on social media about, “Hey, what are you looking to major in?”
You know, “When’s your se- season?” Then the coach has got enough. They’ve looked at your film or your highlights, and they have enough interest to engage in that process. That’s a coach that’s interested. So take advantage of that process and continue to speak with that coach and see where it goes. It may go somewhere, it may not, but at least see if, you know, um, you know, where that coach wants to go with it.
Too many times players, they ask, you know, “Hey,” this or that, you know, in terms of, “I have some interest,” but then very quickly they seem to move on. Um, you know, and, and it’s like, well, that’s a lost opportunity, especially if I was interested in you. Um, so I think that’s the biggest piece is, you know, go for it.
Put yourself out there. Let that coach see it, and if [00:25:00] they’re interested, respond back in kind and, and keep that conversation going and see where it goes.
Matt: Awesome. Well, Coach, really appreciate the time and wish you the best of luck in, uh, season number two.
Coach: Yep. Thanks, Matt, I appreciate it. Thanks for having us on.
Matt: Thank you.