Mediapolis football's Drew Miller talks Georgia commitment as nation’s top high school punter
Most football fans in Iowa — particularly followers of the Hawkeyes — understand the mantra “punting is winning.”
So, it’s only fitting that the latest installment of the Des Moines Register’s recruiting Q&A series features the top high school punter in the country.
Mediapolis rising senior Drew Miller is the No. 1 punter nationwide and No. 16 player in Iowa for the 2024 recruiting class, according to 247Sports Composite. He is a three-star recruit with several Division I offers, which is unique for any punter or kicker.
Iowa State was the first program to offer Miller and, before his commitment, he collected additional offers from Air Force, Army, Georgia, Michigan, NC State and Texas. There was no question for Miller after the Bulldogs offered, and he committed to the SEC program in May.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound punter had 55 kickoffs — 51 of which were touchbacks — for 3,401 yards and a long of 43 yards. His 24 punts added up to 1,151 total yards, or an average of 48 yards per punt. Miller even threw one touchdown pass on one attempt last season.
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He also excelled on the soccer pitch, helping Mediapolis to substate play in Class 1A. He played 1,026 minutes in net, allowed just seven goals and made 79 saves.
The Register caught up with Miller to discuss his football-soccer split, picking up an SEC offer and more.
Q&A with Mediapolis’ Drew Miller, the No. 1 punter nationwide in the 2024 class
Can you take me back and let me know what your earliest memory is in sports?
Drew Miller: I started playing football when I was three, and then flag football in like preschool. That’s about as far back as I can remember playing sports.
What is your favorite memory in sports, either as a player or as a fan?
Miller: I would probably say my freshman year when we played at West Branch and beat them in the playoffs. That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing football.
Can you walk me through how punter recruiting differs from recruiting for other positions?
Miller: Regular position recruiting, you can get offers whenever. Coaches aren’t afraid to extend an offer as a freshman or sophomore if you’re elite. And there’s multiple scholarships for the same position in every class, usually. So, it might be one quarterback every year but for wide receivers, there can be multiple scholarships.
For specialists, the offers don’t usually come until junior or even into your senior year, and very rarely scholarships. Schools normally take one position every three or four years, so the opportunities are pretty scarce.
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Iowa State was your first offer. What was that moment like when a school offered you a scholarship as a punter?
Miller: I was shocked, because it came really early, and I wasn’t in that much contact with them at those dates and times. So, it was a really big surprise that they did offer but I’m super grateful for that offer, because that did jump-start my recruiting and I built great relationships there.
You had teams like Texas and Michigan extend offers too, but Georgia came into the mix. Did you ever imagine getting an SEC offer?
Miller: No. When I sat down with my trainer and kind of started this whole thing, I had to give him a list of schools that I would want on top of my list. I put all smaller schools, like UNI and Western Illinois. I didn’t think I could play at this high a level.
What was it like when Georgia called and offered you?
Miller: It was a dream come true. I knew that’s where I wanted to go for a while, I was just waiting on the offer. As soon as I got the phone call from them and heard their offer, I was really, really excited.
What was it about Georgia that you knew that’s where you wanted to play college football?
Miller: Winning tradition is definitely a big part. It’s a big-time stage, and getting a chance to win a national championship. That was a big thing for me, but also the history they have with specialists and how well they’ve developed them and how they’ve gone to the league. It spoke to me that I could go to Georgia and be successful and hopefully have an NFL career.
What was your coach’s and family’s reaction to you committing to Georgia?
Miller: Oh, they’re happy for me. I mean, they weren’t really surprised. They knew that’s where I wanted to go but they’re extremely happy for me.
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Since soccer was your first sport, was the transition to football easy?
Miller: I would say so. It’s pretty similar, at least for kicking and stuff. Sticking to kicking was an easy decision because of what I wanted to do because, for a long time, I wanted to do soccer in college. So, between football and soccer, that was a hard decision. But once I committed to this, it was pretty easy to transition.
Some of the top kickers in the state are the goalies on their soccer team. I’m curious, why did you lean towards the one position where you can use your hands?
Miller: For me personally, I learned a ton from goalie, just because it builds up leg strength and the technique is kind of similar. You don’t get that with any other position on the soccer field, the punting part at least. For me, punting for football stemmed from that.
I know some other kickers that play soccer play other positions, but that’s just kind of what happened for me.
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With one year of high school left, what are your goals? Are you going to graduate early or are we going to see another soccer season out of you?
Miller: I’m not sure if I’ll graduate early. I haven’t decided, and we’re waiting to hear some different things about playing or not playing from the Georgia coaching staff, because coming in as a freshman, I could have an opportunity to start. So, there’s kind of some stuff with that.
But I am playing basketball, for sure, and then I’m playing quarterback as well this year for high school, so hopefully going to lead the team deep into the playoffs.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mediapolis' Drew Miller on Georgia commitment as nation's top punter
