Robert Red Miller Obit

Red Miller, former Broncos coach
who led team to Super Bowl XII,
dies at 89

He was not on the list.

Robert “Red” Miller, the former Denver Broncos coach who guided the team to its first playoff berth and Super Bowl appearance in 1977, died Wednesday morning from complications of a stroke. He was 89.

Miller was hospitalized after suffering a stroke Sept. 11, during the Broncos’ season-opening victory against the Chargers. He is survived by his wife, Nan; his son, Steve; his stepson, Jeff; and five grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter, Lana.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to Red’s entire family, especially his wife, Nan,” Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis said. “Red was a beloved member of the Broncos’ family. He left a great impact on this franchise by laying the foundation for our championship tradition and was so proud to be part of our first Super Bowl team 40 years ago.”

Miller was days away from turning 90 and less than two months from being honored as the 32nd member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame. On Nov. 17, his bronze pillar will be unveiled in the Ring of Fame plaza at the steps of Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Two days later, when the Broncos host the Cincinnati Bengals, Miller will be inducted posthumously, with many of his former players in attendance to commemorate his legacy and the team’s 40th anniversary of its Super Bowl XII berth.

A longtime offensive line coach with the Broncos (1963-65), Boston/New England Patriots (1960-61, ’73-76), Buffalo Bills (1962) and St. Louis Cardinals (1966-70), Miller took over for John Ralston as head coach in 1977 and quickly laid a new foundation for a franchise that previously had never been a contender.  He also coached the Denver Gold of the USFL.

In Miller’s four seasons as head coach, the Broncos went 40-22 in the regular season (.645 winning percentage) and checked off a number of team firsts. Before him, the Broncos had never made it to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.

In his first season at the helm, Miller helped the Broncos to two six-game winning streaks and a 12-2 record, their best mark of the Broncos’ then-18 seasons of existence. Denver finished atop the division that year, defeated the Steelers in the divisional round of the playoffs, then beat the Raiders in the AFC championship game to head to the Super Bowl.

The Broncos lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-10 in Super Bowl XII in New Orleans, but Miller earned coach of the year honors by The Associated Press.

“That’s the thing I take pride in with him: He knew it was important for us to be really successful,” said Tom Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowl and all-pro linebacker who keyed the Broncos’ Orange Crush defense under Miller. “That’s all. He understood that he had to be successful, so to go to that Super Bowl, it gave him legitimacy, it gave us legitimacy. The organization became something different after that.”

Though the Broncos fell short in their first Super Bowl, their first AFC title was a momentous victory and a turning point in franchise history. Prior to that 20-17 win against Oakland, the Broncos were 7-27-2 against their nemesis.

“They were a dominant force in the NFL, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers at that time,” former safety Steve Foley said. “Red had come from New England and the first thing he said when he got here was, ‘I don’t know about you guys, but we beat the dog out of the Raiders, and we’re going to do that here.’ We had had trouble with them. It was a great team that John Ralston had assembled, but we needed that fire in Red’s belly. He gave us a passion. We assumed his qualities as a leader. It was a tremendous time to play and we walked in to those Raider games knowing that it was going to be a brawl, that it was going to be a fight, but he didn’t care. He said, ‘I don’t care what you do. If it takes a fight, it’s a fight. But we’re going to beat them.’ And that was the spirit that Red brought to the team. He was a fighter.

“That dislike for the Raiders, it’s still there. They were a great football team, but you knew that Al Davis told them, ‘Do anything you need to do to win,’ and we adopted that attitude as well with Red.”

Sunday, the Broncos will meet the Raiders for the 114th time in the regular season. The divisional matchup is always significant in Denver, but it will be even more so this year. During the game the Broncos plan to recognize the former coach who, perhaps more than anyone, lived to topple those pesky Raiders.

Jackson now chuckles when he thinks back to Miller’s desire to clobber their divisional rival. But more than that, Jackson — like so many others who played for Miller, worked for Miller and knew Miller well — recall the man underneath the headset.

“I remember a few instances when he yelled at a few guys and we always just laughed because he was so passionate about the game and passionate about having you play and play hard and practice and do things the right way to be prepared,” Jackson said. “I know that a lot of the credit for what we did in going to the Super Bowl and all that, the players the year before and coach Ralston and all the contributions that he made, I think a lot of times the coach that Red Miller was, it got overlooked a little bit. He’s likely deserving of a lot more credit than he ever got for the successes back then and then where the program went from there on.

“He’s a good coach, and probably a better man.”

Added Ring of Fame defensive back Billy Thompson: “He was a great communicator, a very special individual, a very special coach and a person that understood things. He was somebody that you could count on. He made us take responsibility of things and it was just a special time for me in my career and in Broncos history. He was the guy who initiated all of that.”



Under Miller’s watch, the Broncos’ famed Orange Crush defense allowed a league-low 15.0 points per game from 1977-80 and featured five future Ring of Famers in defensive end Smith, linebackers Randy Gradishar and Jackson, cornerback Louis Wright and safety Thompson.

“There’s a certain aspect of going to the Super Bowl and having that success in the playoffs that even though we lost the game and lost badly in the Super Bowl, I think there was a legitimacy to that season and that team,” Jackson said. “And of course some of the building blocks of that go all the way back to the Billy Thompsons and the Lyle Alzados and Paul Smiths and the entire grouping of Broncos that came before us that hadn’t had a chance to be in the playoffs,” Jackson said. “Everything changes when Pat Bowlen takes over (in 1984), but from that point on (in 1977), I like to think of the Denver Broncos as highly successful. From that moment on, this organization has done nothing but made me proud.”

The Broncos morphed from perennial playoff absentee to Super Bowl contender that has since appeared in seven more Super Bowls and won three. Including Miller’s first season, the Broncos have played in 22 postseasons and tallied a 408-266-1 overall record.

Playoffs included, the Broncos also own a 45-36 record against Oakland in that span.