When the halftime buzzer sounds at Providence’s home football games, most of the Celtics head off with their coaches to talk about second-half adjustments.
Not Koda Miller.
The senior offensive guard grabs his French horn and lines up with the band for its halftime performance.
“It’s all about the mental power,” Miller said of balancing his Friday night responsibilities. “You just have to keep the right mind at all times.”
That’s certainly essential for someone who has to juggle academics, football and band — not to mention the other two sports he’s involved in, wrestling and track and field.
“Every day I go to school, then I go to football and [then] I go to band,” Miller said. “As soon as I’m done with band, I have to do my homework right afterward to keep on top of my grades.”
And then he does it all over the next day, which might sound exhausting, But Miller can’t imagine any other way.
“I juggle it by keeping to the basics,” he said.
Miller’s given name is Frederick, but he said almost no one calls him that other than his teachers. “Koda” means “bear” in the language of his Native American ancestors with the Little River Band of Ottawa.
It’s an appropriate nickname for someone who has been playing football since he was 5 years old.
A sturdy 5-10 and 260 pounds, Miller has been a lineman most of his career.
“Actually I started out as a running back, gained a couple pounds,” he said.
Now he’s a pretty good guard, with an offer in hand from Division III Ripon and interest from other schools.
“I’d love to play [college] football,” Miller said. “It’s always been a dream of mine since I was little.”
That’s not the only one he has. He also wants to play in a concert band in college and major in criminal justice.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to help out the community,” he said.
He got into music in fifth grade, starting out with the flute and then moving to the mellophone before landing on the French horn.
“It’s a really big part of my life,” Miller said. “I feel like I’ve learned more off of band than [from] just playing football.”
That’s not to say that football isn’t important for one of the Celtics’ co-captains. He credits Providence coaches for helping him improve both in terms of football IQ and leadership.
“I think my game really developed here with coach [Tyler] Plantz teaching the basics and teaching how to do things like setting the right example,” Miller said.
Providence has long been one of Illinois’ premier programs, with 10 state titles, four runner-up finishes and 96 all-time IHSA playoff wins. The Celtics finished second in Class 4A two years ago and were a semifinalist in Class 5A last fall.
Miller foresees another deep postseason run this year.
“I feel like we’re [able] to be one of the best teams in the state and to go all the way,” he said. “We just have to believe in ourselves a little more and stick to the basics.”