Peter Miller, a University of Minnesota alum and former Gophers thrower, is leading the Gophers throw team to new heights.
Born and raised in Pine Island, Minnesota, Miller graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s in kinesiology in 2008. A natural leader, Miller served as team captain during his senior year as a walk-on shot putter and qualified for the Big Ten Indoor finals in 2007.
Before returning to the University in 2013 to coach, Miller was a combined-events coach at Wisconsin-River Falls and later at North Dakota, where his athletes set multiple school records.
Miller joined the women’s staff as an assistant coach for throws and high jump before assuming responsibility for both genders in 2018. After working his way up to associate head coach in 2021, he now leads both men’s and women’s throws groups.
Under Miller’s guidance, the Gophers have seen record-breaking performances across the board.
Since 2013, his group has produced 78 out of 130 throw/multi-event top‑10 all-time marks at Minnesota.
Redshirt sophomore Anthonett Nabwe said Miller’s coaching style and techniques are huge reasons for her improvement since her freshman year.
“Using the tools that come provided, like this year we get journals,” Nabwe said. “When Coach tells me what I need to work on, I get to write that in my journal. The one this year helped me a lot, building every practice instead of starting over every practice.”
In an interview with the Post Bulletin, Miller said that for him, the athletes always come first.
“Yes, they can throw metal objects far, but many of them are also graduating with their master’s degrees,” Miller said. “Impacting their lives through our training, which is a big part of their lives, is a huge motivation for me.”
Miller is also responsible for recruiting. With the turnover for collegiate athletes being so high, it is up to Miller to make sure that the Gophers see success for years to come.
Miller has plenty of experience with finding and elevating good throwers. In outdoor track and field alone, he coached 11 athletes to school records.
When the track season ended, Miller won his eighth Midwest Assistant Coach of the Year award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
He said he is happy to keep being successful at the University.
“As long as they’ll keep me, I’ll be staying in Minnesota,” Miller said. “And as long as our head coach is our head coach, I will keep grinding away.”