Landon Miller ‘one of those quiet leaders’ for Rutland

Rutland head coach Mark Daniel quickly praises Landon Miller, saying, “He’s one of those quiet leaders who’s always the first one out there, ready to go and gives it 100 percent every play. He’s a key player for us.”

Miller likes the compliment and enjoys that role.

The senior running back/wide receiver and the Hurricanes finished 2-8 in Daniel’s first season with the program in 2016. They’re shooting for the GHSA Class 4A playoffs this season, which begins Aug. 25 against Perry.

“I always try to lead by example. If I can do everything right and I go full speed, everybody underneath me will do the same thing when they get in the same position as me,” Miller said. “So I just work as hard as I can and try to outwork everybody, and they’ll follow.”

That’s what Daniel is counting on from his Hurricanes this season. He mentioned senior quarterback K’vian Fuller and senior linebackers Daquavious Woods and Hunter Mock as other important leaders for this year’s team.

The Hurricanes were 1-1 through their first two games in 2016 but went 1-7 the rest of the way.

“Improvement, so far they’ve been improving and doing what we need them to do to try and get ready for this season,” Daniel said of what he’s looking for from his players. “Our goal is to try to get in the playoffs. They’re much more prepared for that from the start of the season this year than they were last year, so I think that they’ve got a pretty good chance if they keep growing and developing. They can’t go backwards or slack off. They’ve got to keep pushing.

“I think they feel more comfortable with the overall process, with the coaches in general, all of us, with the procedures we’re doing and with the offense and the defense.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Landon Miller ‘one of those quiet leaders’ for Rutland."