Former Longtime UNC Fencing Head Coach Ron Miller Dies at 78

Posted by Michael Koh | Jun 5, 2023 | ACC, Sports, UNC Sports

Former UNC fencing coach Ron Miller, who coached the Tar Heels for 52 years, has died. He was 78. USA Fencing confirmed the news on social media on Monday afternoon.

A post shared by USA Fencing (@usafencing)

"Ron Miller's name is synonymous with Carolina fencing," said UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. "He made a huge impact on thousands of student-athletes in his program and in his classes on campus, and on hundreds of coworkers within our department. We will miss him greatly, and we send our deepest condolences to his family and those he has touched."

Miller began coaching fencing in Chapel Hill in the 1967-68 season, and by the time he retired had won ACC Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year twice. In 2018, the women's fencing team won the ACC championship.

When Miller first came to Chapel Hill, fencing was still not a varsity sport at UNC. Richard Jameson, then the chair of the physical education department, hired Miller with the intention of changing that. When Miller showed up, he remembered, several members of the fencing club chose to walk away rather than continue toward varsity status.

"I had about 25 people show up, and I said, ‘OK, guys, this is the way it is going to be," Miller said in a feature article from UNC in 2016. "We are going to earn varsity status, so you are going to act like a varsity team. We are going to practice. We are going to work hard. We are going to do everything we have to do to make this happen. How many of you want to stay?’

"Three people put up their hands. The rest left."

Miller's confidence in the program and himself paid off. He coached 14 All-Americans, five members of the U.S. National Fencing Team and two Olympians. He finished his career with 1,602 victories, and his head coaching tenure is still the longest in the history of Carolina Athletics. Under Miller's guidance, at least one Tar Heel fencer qualified for the NCAA Championships in every season he coached. His success wasn't limited to just the gym: Miller's Tar Heels never posted a grade point average lower than 3.0.

"I don't think I’ve ever felt as strongly about someone who is not part of my actual family," said current UNC fencing coach Matt Jednak. "Coach Miller shaped all of us in so many ways, and I’m grateful to have spent so much of my life linked to him in one way or another – as one of his fencers, as one of his assistant coaches, and finally following in his very large shoes as coach of this program. He has left an incredible legacy and will live on in every Tar Heel he mentored, but we will all miss him terribly."

Miller graduated from Florida State University in 1966, earned his master's degree at Eastern Kentucky in 1967 and continued his education while coaching in Chapel Hill. Miller graduated from UNC with a doctorate in Exercise Science, Higher Education, Guidance and Psychology in 1974. He was then awarded the "Maitre d’Armes," a fencing diploma, in 1980. His numerous other awards and honors include UNC's Alumni Achievement Award and USA Fencing's Jack Baker Award for Service.

Miller was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023 and accepted the honor in person. Jednak presented Miller with the honor.

Ron Miller (left) and Matt Jednak at Miller's induction into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame. (Image via USA Fencing)

"This is the joy of my life," Miller said in his acceptance speech, "to be able to give back to promote our sport, to show how important it is to the daily life of everyone that they can learn to be a better person, learn to be more effective in their communications with others — in their ability to find joy and success in their life. Fencing is life."

Featured image via UNC/Jon Gardiner

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