FORT COLLINS — It’s 8:30 a.m. and at any moment Tim Miles will come bounding up the stairs to his second-floor office. He never waits for the McGraw Center elevator.
The first-year coach is sprinting in his marathon task to revive the Colorado State’s men’s basketball program. (The Rams, 6-13 overall, are 0-5 in Mountain West Conference play heading into a home game tonight against San Diego State).
Though he seems naturally caffeinated, Miles arrives with coffee in hand on this day, during which he agreed to allow a reporter and photographer to shadow him. The previous night he was up late driving back from a high school game near Denver, one of three recruiting destinations during the week.
Miles goes over his morning schedule with his office visitors, which includes a quick trip to 3 1/2-year-old son Gabe’s gymnastics class, a meeting with CSU’s compliance staff and a Roundball Club booster luncheon.
On his door is a blue sticky note with the distinctive scrawl of a second-grader. It’s a message from his 7 1/2-year-old daughter Ava, to come to “dad’s duty” at her school.
“Make sure you note that’s from my daughter and not one of my players,” Miles quipped.
NCAA Division I basketball programs are measured by the Ratings Percentage Index. Fortunately for CSU, there’s no ranking by square footage of a head coach’s office, or the Rams would never get into the NCAA Tournament. Miles’ office barely measures more than 100 square feet.
This isn’t one of those notable CSU facilities shortfalls, however. The office he inherited had twice the space but he had it divided to give his assistants more breathing room. The head coach kept the northwest corner with its balcony and view of the foothills. He recalls far worse.
“At North Dakota State, my office was underneath the weight room,” he said. “I had a good recruit in one day. The football team was doing power cleans . . .”
He lost the recruit, unable to hold a conversation with the parents and player amid the grunting and groaning from the floor above. But scoping out the view on this sunny morning, Miles said, “Even after Panhandle, does it get any better than this?” (CSU lost earlier this season at home to Division II Panhandle State.)
He has just enough room for his tech toys/tools — a computer, laptop, flat-panel TV, DVR and a pile of remotes. The computer screen isn’t just for surfing and e-mail. There’s a slide show of his family interspersed with basketball photos, many from his prior stop.
“Every parent really has to buy a new camera,” he said of his main hobby.
Early lessons
For all the photos of his two children, tucked away in a file cabinet is a reminder of his childhood. His mother, whom Miles said saved everything, kept a list of basketball truisms her son wrote on an envelope when he captained his fifth- grade P.E. team. Among them: “Get a big lead and keep scoring if you can,” and “If someone is open, throw the ball to them.”
As if on cue, he wisecracked that some of those ideas could well apply to his current team.
Soon after CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk dropped in to discuss some scheduling for next season’s return dates from Stanford and Minnesota, trainer Mike Biggs arrived to check on the practice schedule.Miles is relieved Biggs doesn’t bring any bad injury news.
“Two people you never want to see in your office are the trainer and compliance director,” he said.
Soon, it’s time for Gabe’s gymnastics, and Miles warns that his son will be wearing his favorite Bison shirt from North Dakota State, where he last coached. “If we were winning more, he’d be on board,” Miles said.
He calls his courtesy car, a 2005 Chevy Tahoe, his second office. If not for the child seat and bags of “stuff,” it would be roomier than his first coaching office.
It’s nonstop calls during the 10-minute trip. A former assistant calls to suggest a tape clip for some perfectly executed screens, and Miles describes the Rams’ ups and downs.
Upon arrival at the preschool play center, Miles proudly watched Gabe negotiate a foam rubber “balance beam.” The tyke is nonstop energy, just like his dad’s team.
Job time at Pappy’s
He is back at his office by 11:30 a.m. and meets with his staff to go over the script for practice. The staff, guard Marcus Walker and several administrators then take off in an SUV convoy to the weekly booster luncheon at Pappy’s Corner Pub.
About 20 boosters greet the entourage. Miles is so well liked one might think the Rams are rolling into the top 25. Miles works the room. Longtime fan Ray Seasar, founder of The Egg & I chain, said: “I was so excited after we lost to UNLV because that was the best loss we’ve seen out of CSU in the last five years.”
Another longtime CSU fan, Dennis Hogerty, said: “I have learned more about basketball coming to these meetings than I ever learned by the previous coaches. . . . I haven’t seen more coaching from the bench ever, (except) maybe (Stew Morrill.) These kids are really listening to the coach.”
Walker told the boosters of his goal of getting a degree in fashion design and establishing a community center for underprivileged youths. A fan asked Walker to describe the color of Miles’ faded orange sweater. Walker suggests “peach.” Miles said, “It takes a real man to wear peach.”
Confidence builder
After Miles’ turn, and more mea culpas for his team’s play, it’s back to campus for afternoon practice. During the workout, Miles paces back and fourth between the guard drills and the big men, who actually range from 6-foot-4 Josh Simmons to 7-fo0t Ronnie Aguilar.
It’s more a “build back confidence” practice after another loss than an intense workout. There’s little shooting and not much discussion about the upcoming opponent except for a passing drill designed to improve ballhandling.
The roughly two-hour workout gets over before 4 p.m., after which Miles built in an hour to catching up on recruiting calls. But this day was special. Instead of working late into the evening, as he normally does, he had a rare in-season chance to catch dinner with his wife, Kari, and see both children at a more normal hour than most coaches are able to do.
“Every day is a different day,” said CSU director of basketball operations Craig Smith. “He keeps it light, but he’s demanding at the same time. It’s a great combination to have.”
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
A day in the life
Denver Post reporter Natalie Meisler spent a day with Colorado State coach Tim Miles. On the itinerary:
8 a.m.: Drive daughter, Ava, to second grade at St. Joseph School, pick up coffee at convenience store.
8:30 a.m.: Arrive at office, review previous night’s MWC games, lament DVR shutting off on TCU’s winning basket. Chat with staff.
9:40 a.m.: Radio interview.
10 a.m.: Brief meeting with compliance staff
10:30 a.m.: Head for son Gabe’s gymnastics lesson, chat by cell in the car with old friends.
11 a.m.: Back in office, download a basketball clip sent by a friend and marvel over the technology.
11:30 a.m.: Review practice drills with staff.
11:45-1 p.m.: Gather everyone to leave for booster club lunch. Do everything at the luncheon except take time to eat. Answer 100th question of the month about Stu Creason’s foot injury. Warn boosters it takes time to get the team where he wants it. Listen to horror stories of even worse times.
1:30 a.m.: Get ready for practice.
2-3:45 p.m.: “Low impact” practice without 5-on-5 drills after a few days of rest and regrouping for the team.
4-after 5 p.m.: Recruiting calls.
