Dion Miller

Instagram | Twitter   Dion Miller took over as Director of Cross Country and Track & Field in July 2019, returning to ASU for a second time after successful tenures in the SEC and Big 12, and the Sun Devils quickly returned to the national conversation following his arrival.

ASU has earned six NCAA individual titles and the 2024 Men's 4x400 Indoor title since Miller took the helm, plus both the men and women finished top-10 at the 2021 NCAA National Outdoor Championships. The Men would also go on to earn a fifth-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships.  

HUGE week for the Sun Devils! 3?? National Titles 4?? Medals 9?? All-Americans And BOTH the men and women's squads finished top-10 in the country. ??#ForksUp?? #O2V https://t.co/mwwEa3i5dL — Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) June 13, 2021

Miller has been recognized as one of the best sprints coaches in the nation on several occasions. He’s earned USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year honors eight times, including four honors for the outdoor season while coaching at Texas Tech.

He's shown a consistent flair for both developing young talent and navigating the transfer portal, as evidenced by the 2023-24 season in which freshmen Jayden Davis, Alex Johnson and Saira Prince soared to the national championships, while bringing in program-altering transfers in Kaleb Simpson, Brandon Lloyd and Ines Lopez, among others.  

Following a canceled 2020 outdoor season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASU returned to competition by sending five to the NCAA indoor meet where the Sun Devils collected the shot put national title and celebrated four athletes earning All-America honors. Eight student-athletes went to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, leading to three national titles, nine All-Americans, and six top-five finishes.
Jorinde van Klinken and Turner Washington earned spots on The Bowerman watchlist, with Washington being named a finalist.  

Miller primarily focuses on the sprinters and hurdlers. During the 2021 seasons he coached Kentre Patterson to a 12th-place overall finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and oversaw freshman Jamar Marshall Jr. take fifth in the 110H at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after claiming the 110H title at the Pac-12 Championships days prior. Marshall Jr. and Patterson were ASU’s most electric racers in 2021, the duo shattering the 60H indoor program record (7.59 & 7.66, respectively) and Marshall Jr. going on to place his name at the top of the program’s all-time 110H list (13.49).

Miller directly oversaw 12 new top-10 entries into the program all-time lists across the 2020-21 indoor and outdoor seasons. The year ended with Marshall Jr., Patterson, and Washington all competing at the USATF Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. At the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Miller led the Sun Devil Men to a fifth-place national finish. Over a historic four days in Austin, Texas, ASU celebrated Turner Washington earning his fifth NCAA title, Sevanna Hanson becoming the second women's outdoor pole vaulter in ASU history to finish as an All-American, program records in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, the 4x4 nearly breaking the NCAA record, and 10 total All-America honors - with eight of those being first team All-Americans. It marked the most All-American honors the Maroon and Gold have collected in one meet since the 2012 season (12). With 41 points recorded, the Sun Devil Men earned their best since 2010 (fourth, 79 points); the women finished 43rd with five points. The final day of competition was highlighted by Grace Campbell tying her No. 3 all-time mark in the high jump. She went 1.84m/6-0.50 to tie for ninth place and finish as a Second Team All-American - becoming ASU's first women's high jump All-American since Shelly Choppa in 1994. The Sun Devils returned to national prominence the following season, as the Men's 4x400 relay of Justin Robinson-Kaleb Simpson-Gamali Felix-Jayden Davis brought home the school's first relay title at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships, winning at a school-record 3:02.35. The Sun Devils' winning time also set a world-leading Indoor time and the collegiate lead this season, as they outlasted Florida (3:02.53) and Texas A&M (3:03.35).   School record. Facility record. Fastest collegiate time this season. World-leading indoor time.

All in a day’s work ? pic.twitter.com/D01TIUMr5D — Sun Devil Track and Field/XC (@SunDevilTFXC) March 9, 2024

In the 2024 Outdoor season, the Sun Devils sent 11 to the NCAA Championships, seven of which were first-year Sun Devils in freshmen Jayden Davis, Saira Prince and Alex Johnson, plus transfers in Nick Ramey, Kaleb Simpson, Brandon Lloyd and Ines Lopez. The Men's 4x400 of Davis-Simpson-Justin Robinson-Gamali Felix earned a fourth-place national finish with their time of 3:00.87. Both Robinson and Dayton Carlson earned individual All-American honors, with Robinson placing eighth in the 400m final and Carlson taking 15th in the 800m. Adriana Tatum qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 100m and 200m for the first time in her storied Sun Devil career.

In the 2025 Indoor season, the Sun Devil Men's 4x400 relay once again entered the NCAA Indoor Championships boasting one of the top units in the nation. At the Indoor national meet in Virginia Beach, Jayden Davis-Trevin Moyer-Dayton Carlson-Malik Franklin teamed up to go 3:03.88 to place third overall. Jayden Davis led the trio of Sun Devil individuals with a fourth-place finish in the Men's 400m final. Davis posted a 45.56 in the final, trailing Texas A&M's Auhmad Robinson by just .02 to win the heat. Adriana Tatum became the Sun Devil Women's first All-American in the 200m since Jasmine Chaney in 2011, earning Second-Team honors with her placement in the prelims. Dayton Carlson became just the third Indoor 800m Men's All-American in team history, joining Mason McHenry (2009, 2012) and Treg Scott (1985), as well.  

Tempe ?? Eugene ?? pic.twitter.com/vYTIJjc96Y — Sun Devil Track and Field/XC (@SunDevilTFXC) May 26, 2024

INDIVIDUAL OUTDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS UNDER COACH MILLER 
Turner Washington, Discus (2023/66.22m)
Jorinde van Klinken, Discus (2022/62.16m)
Jorinde van Klinken, Discus (2021/65.01m)
Turner Washington, Discus (2021/63.42m)
Turner Washington, Shot put (2021/21.10m)

INDIVIDUAL INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS UNDER COACH MILLER
2024: Justin Robinson-Kaleb Simpson-Jayden Davis-Gamali Felix, 4x400 relay (3:02.35)
2022: Turner Washington, shot put (21.65m/71-1/2)
2022: Jorinde van Klinken, shot put (19.08m/62-7.25)
2021: Turner Washington, Shot Put (21.36m/70-1)

MEN'S OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS UNDER COACH MILLER
2024:
Dayton Carlson, 800m (15th)
Justin Robinson, 400m (9th), 4x400 relay (4th)
Jayden Davis, 4x400 relay (4th)
Kaleb Simpson, 4x400 relay (4th)
Gamali Felix, 4x400 relay (4th)

2023:
Jeremiah Curry, 200m (12th)
Turner Washington, Discus (Champion)/shot put (silver medal)
Justin Robinson, 400m (4th)
Dubem Nwachukwu, 400m (5th)/4x400 relay (silver medal)
Gamali Felix, 400m (8th)
Jalen Drayden, Jeremiah Curry, Trevin Moyer, Justin Robinson, 4x100 relay
Dubem Nwachukwu, Jeremiah Curry, Jalen Drayden, Justin Robinson, 4x400 relay

2022:
Turner Washington, Discus (10th)/shot put (2nd)
Ralford Mullings, Discus 2021
Jamar Marshall Jr., 110 Meter Hurdles
Ian Schulz, Discus
Turner Washington, Discus/Shot Put

WOMEN'S OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS UNDER COACH MILLER
2023:
Grace Campbell, High jump (T-9th)
Sevanna Hanson, Pole vault (4th) 

2022:
Jorinde van Klinken, Shot put (second)/Discus(champion)
Beatrice Llano, Hammer (3rd)
Shelby Moran, Hammer (5th)

2021: 
Jorinde Van Klinken, Discus
Alizee Minard, Javelin 
Beatrice Llano, Hammer
Shelby Moran, Hammer

Prior to Arizona State, Miller was an assistant coach (sprinters) at Alabama from 2015 until he returned to Tempe.  While with the Crimson Tide, Miller's sprinters helped the Alabama men win their first SEC indoor title in school history in 2018. The Tide earned USTFCCCA Program of the Year honors for its collective performance at the NCAA Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Championships across the 2017-18 season.  

Prior to Alabama, Miller coached the sprinters at Texas Tech, his alma mater, from 2007-2015. Miller’s SEC title with Alabama was his fourth in 12 years as an assistant, as Miller and the Texas Tech men took the Big 12 outdoor crown in 2014, and the Sun Devils won back-to-back women's Pac-12 titles in 2006 and 2007.  

In his first stint with the Devils from 2004-07, Miller was on the staff that won the 2007 Women's NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles. He worked closely with 2018 Sun Devil Sports Hall of Fame inductee and seven-time NCAA champion Jacquelyn Johnson, and recruited a handful of Sun Devil greats to Tempe, including 100m and 200m record-holder Charonda Williams.  

Before his initial arrival to Tempe, Miller got his start as an assistant coach for the University of Washington. Miller graduated from Texas Tech in 1998 with a bachelor's in exercise and sports science. He earned 13 All-Conference honors and qualified for the NCAA Championships eight times as a Red Raider sprinter.   Miller comes to Tempe with his wife Carol, and three children Alandrea, Kameron and Dionna.