2022 Recruit Blake Miller “Happy” With LSU Football Offer, Talks Joe Burrow’s Impact on Ohio Players
Blake Miller has lived in Ohio all his life. The Strongsville native has grown up about three hours north of Athens, Ohio, a town that has become very familiar to LSU fans because of Heisman-winning quarterback Joe Burrow.
Miller remembers watching the very first game the Ohio State transfer started for the Tigers, a 33-17 win over Miami. Many recall that Burrow's performance that day wasn't jaw dropping, going 11-for-24 for 140 yards.
LSU was still a run heavy team in 2018 and relied on the legs of Nick Brossette to carry the Tigers towards the finish lines. Yet Miller saw something in Burrow that really started to pop at the end of that season.
"I feel like Joe Burrow, his whole story is just amazing," Miller said. "Most people if they didn't play for a while and had to go through the whole transfer process, they'd get discouraged but he kept with it. So that's a life lesson that anybody can take away, whether you play football or not."
Miller is starting to build quite an impressive recruiting resume of his own after an impressive sophomore campaign at Strongsville High School.
LSU offered Miller back on May 28 so the experience has been fresh in Miller's mind for nearly two weeks. In addition to LSU, Miller has received offers from Texas A&M, Ohio State, Clemson, Florida and Auburn in the last two months alone.
Offensive line coach James Cregg got on the phone with Miller and said he really liked the aggressive nature that Miller plays with and that his technique remains sound throughout the course of a game.
"We're a very run heavy team at my high school, we run about 80% of the time so I feel like my run blocks are pretty good," Miller said. "The thing I would want to work on is my blocking in space, so blocking on screen passes and then moving to that second level and attacking the linebackers as well."
Cregg did mention he'd love to have Miller down for a recruiting visit in the fall, most likely for a game. Normally how Miller handles recruiting visits is he'll set up a bunch at once in a road trip style approach.
Miller said he's already starting to gather a list of schools in the back of his mind that stand out above the rest but is listening to every program that wants to make him an offer.
"We just set aside a week, week and a half and all we do is visit colleges so that'll definitely be a place we plan to visit when we set all of it up," Miller said. "I really don't want to commit until the end of my junior year or the start of my senior year because I want to make sure the place that I commit to is going to be the right fit."
As far as staying in shape to make sure he's improving every day on his craft, Miller will wake up and work out, get some cardio work in around noon and work on drills with his fellow linemen in the afternoon. In addition, two days a week, he'll do some yoga to work on his flexibility.
Miller was able to watch plenty of LSU football last season and came away "amazed" at how well the Tigers orchestrated their offense. It's another reason why receiving an offer meant so much to the 6-foot-6, 315-pound offensive tackle.
"I'm really happy about the LSU offer, I mean they're the national champions and that to me was really amazing," Miller said. "It's beautiful to watch the way they play football. I feel like ever since I've gotten into the whole recruiting process, I've found myself studying the offensive line more and more. Just trying to see if there's anything those college guys are doing that could help me out in my game."
When studying LSU last year, Miller said there wasn't an area to nitpick the offensive line because "they did everything perfect."
"I feel like if I was a defensive line coach, I'd be telling my guys you'd better be on your “A” game because they're some of the best guys," Miller said.
Much like Burrow, Miller has thought about what it'd be like to one day "come down to the bayou, chasing a dream." While Miller thinks there's still a lot more he must do before making a commitment, LSU seems to be firmly in the mix for his services.
"Coach Orgeron has a great, winning culture down there which is something I like," Miller said. "I feel like I'd be able to fit in at LSU but I feel like I could adapt to a lot of situations."
