Alabama NewsCenter 2021 football preview: Miles College
Running back Donte Edwards is a team leader who has played a significant role in Miles College's recent SIAC championships. (Miles Athletics)
Reginald Ruffin says things are different since he arrived as the football coach at Miles College.
“We were everybody’s homecoming opponent when I first started here in 2011,” said Ruffin, who has added athletic director to his responsibilities in his decade at the college in Fairfield. “A lot of that has changed. Now we get everybody’s best shot from the strongest to the weakest of this conference.”
That happens when you’ve played for five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in Ruffin’s tenure, winning four titles: in 2011, 2015 and the most recent two in 2018 and 2019.
“I’m very excited about our student-athletes,” the coach said. “I’m very excited about where they have come. They have come a long way.
“But they come here knowing that we have a culture here and that culture is to win,” Ruffin continued. “The culture is to win championships and graduate and be better men, fathers and husbands in the community.”
The Golden Bears didn’t play at all during the 2020-21 school year. They are now preparing to return to the field this fall as football goes back to its traditional season even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Alabama NewsCenter: What is the outlook for this season?
Reginald Ruffin: The biggest thing is we’re getting ready for Alabama State, a good quality opponent. For me, it’s getting our kids ready because we’ve been so far behind due to COVID. COVID has done real damage with the pandemic on our program. We didn’t play ’20, so I’m really worried about sitting out a whole entire year. We’re facing a team that was able to play in the spring and we weren’t able to play. The SWAC played this past spring and we didn’t play. They’ll be a step ahead of us a little bit, so we’re in a catch-up mode. That really scares me a little bit as a coach. But I’m just real excited and proud of our guys. Some of them reported back in great condition and a lot of them didn’t. We’ll try to get those guys in tip-top shape and get ready to play a real tough opponent, an FCS opponent with more scholarships in a bigger and larger classification.
ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?
Ruffin: The strength of this team is our defensive line. We return a majority of our defensive players from the linebacker corps, also to the defensive line. The front defensive line are the leaders of this group on defense. You can see how they practice. You can see how they carry themselves. You can see how they work, from the weight room, to meetings, to practice. There’s a carryover from being off the field to on the field, on the field to off the field. Those guys are our leaders. Offensively, when you lose a top quarterback in Daniel (Smith) and he won two championships for us, now you’re taking some guys that have never played in a collegiate football game. That’s going to be tough. We tried to get those guys ready to play and then we lost a few guys on the offensive line and we lost some receivers. Offensively, we are trying to jell as a unit, get used to each other. We’ve got some new faces, but running backs are still strong with Donte Edwards returning. We’re very excited about our tight ends; they’re all returning, and H back. We’ve just got to put that puzzle all together. On special teams, I’m excited because all those guys return except the long snapper. He’s new, but both kickers and punters are back. That makes it a lot easier.
ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?
Ruffin: Right now LaAnthony Robinson is the No. 1 receiver in our receiving corps. LaAnthony’s been a four-year starter. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s a graduate; he came back to play his senior year. We have a lot of guys who actually graduated and are coming back and playing their last year of eligibility, of competition. We’re very excited about those guys coming back as leaders and being in the program so long and not giving up, transferring when they had the opportunity to go into the transfer portal and play for other institutions. You’ve got Montavious Tinch. He’s a great leader on the offensive side of the ball along with LaAnthony and Donte Edwards at running back. Those guys have been in this program and won a lot of championships for us. Then you turn around and take the defense in Jaylun Thomas, “KD” (Kadarius) Roberts, (N’Ktavious) “Nick” Floyd and Mitch Smiley. Those guys are all returners. Those are all guys that’ve been in this program, been on defense, know what we expect, know how to run it in and out. We’re so very, very excited about those guys as leaders.
ANC: What game(s) do your fans have circled on your schedule?
Ruffin: Alabama State. They’ve been around me for 10 years. They know we are always getting ready for the first opponent. We never overlook anybody. They may have certain opponents that they love and want to see, but they know Coach Ruffin’s motto has always been the first game, getting ready in the offseason for the first opponent that’s on the schedule. That’s Alabama State. Fans always have certain games that they love. They love homecoming (Oct. 9 vs. Benedict). They circle that. That’s one of the biggest games here. And also the Tuskegee-Miles matchup is always big for our fans. It’s an in-state rivalry and a lot of coaches have been there and come here. It’s been a rivalry game for years.
ANC: What is your lingering question?
Ruffin: Offensively, No. 1, can the quarterback sustain drives? Can the quarterback make the plays, make the throws, make the reads, control the ball? Not turning it over. Our offensive line. Can they jell? Can they protect the quarterback? There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of things that we worry about, that we see out in practice every day and we’re trying to correct. It’s all about mechanics. It’s all about fundamentals. We try to make sure our guys get the best fundamentals. They’ve got the best coaches, my assistant coaches. For me, we’re worried about the secondary because we’re so young in the secondary. We’ve got a few guys that returned there and lost so many guys on the back end. Can we put the guys in place for them to not get beat deep? Can we protect the end zone, protect the airwaves and play great zone, things that it’s gonna take for us to be successful on the back end?
Alabama NewsCenter is posting season previews for all 15 college football programs in Alabama. Read about West Alabama, Tuskegee, Samford, Alabama A&M, Birmingham-Southern, North Alabama, Troy and South Alabama, and look for a new football preview each day this week.
