The Fighting Illini charted a massive turnaround in the Bret Bielema era. A silent but crucial part of this success was senior analyst Ben Miller. He has given his all and then some to help make it possible. While Illinois football celebrated their rise, Miller was trying his best to battle death in his 40s. Miller was the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach, before going on health-related leave during the 2022 season after being diagnosed with colon cancer in February 2022. And now his alma mater is acknowledging his efforts with a special honor.
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Ben Miller was honored with the Carson Bird Award, given by Air Force football. The former Falcon, who also coached in the program for 14 years, was recognized for his arduous fight against his cancer.
The illness was an extremely tough one to battle agsint. Miller was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. He got surgery to remove the affected part of his colon and lymph nodes, but learned soon after that the cancer had spread to his liver. To make matters worse, two liver transplant attempts had failed before the successful one. In all, Ben Miller had to undergo more than 18 chemotherapy sessions to beat cancer.
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“A lot of faith. A lot of times, when you didn’t have faith, a lot of times where woe is me,” Miller told 247Sports of this journey. “Just keep getting up every day and trying to live the best you can live while you had it. Sometimes you don’t know how you got through. Sometimes you’re just surviving and you just survive the day and live to see the next one.”
Congrats @coachbenmiller special award for a special man #famILLy #ILL https://t.co/x3tBCBvCWU
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) February 21, 2026
However, he still tried to be a part of the team whenever he had the strength to do so. In these three years, Miller used to come to the Smith Center on and off, even while he was recovering from the liver transplant surgery. That attitude is no surprise during such a trying time, because Miller is an Air Force veteran. He worked in the ManTech Division at the Wright-Patterson base in Ohio before moving to the Air Force Reserve.
During his playing days, Miller was an all-conference offensive lineman at Air Force, starting at left tackle during his junior and senior years. After completing his collegiate career, he signed with the Cleveland Browns, where played fullback, tight end, and even long snapper from years of 2002-05. In the fall of 2005, Miller joined the practice squad for the Philadelphia Eagles for one last shot before moving on to coaching.
At Air Force, Miller coached running backs and special teams and helped create program-record setters like Luke Strebel, Cody Getz, and Jacobi Owens. Kickers Ryan Harrison and Will Conant were semifinalists for the prestigious Lou Groza Award. Clearly, Ben Miller was bringing a lot of talent and experience to Champaign when he was hired. But this huge opportunity was upended by his cancer diagnosis.
Ben Miller has now resumed his full-time hours in the program and has become a more regular figure on the team. He now works as a senior analyst for the Illini head coach. In 2025, Illinois football also acknowledged his fight by making him an honorary captain for the Maryland game. He is now in his sixth year of coaching at Illinois, and expects to remain healthy. Bret Bielema, in particular, is very happy about having Miller back on the staff, since he practically became his right-hand man in these three years.
Ben Miller and Bret Bielema became confidantes during these three years
The Illinois head coach and Miller barely had any connection before the latter joined his staff in Champaign. But when hit with the tragedy of cancer, Bielema helped Miller immensely. He reduced the latter’s coaching duties to bring down his workload and in these three years, Miller and Bielema have developed an extremely close bond.
“Bret here at work was so good to me, and literally I owe that guy my life,” Miller told 247Sports. “He gave me a chance to just heal and, ‘don’t stress about work,’ which was amazing.”
Over time, Miller became Bielema’s most trusted staffer, the publication reported. The head coach told 247Sports that the analyst used to bring up “blind spots” that needed action. The rapport became so strong that Miller will now also be involved in Illinois’ revenue-sharing model.
At heart, however, Miller remains a football coach. It’s what he’s been doing all his life, and if cancer had not beaten him down the way it had, he would have continued doing so. Now in remission, Ben Miller will make the most out of every day he can be on the Illinois sideline.
Written by
Edited by
Aatreyi Sarkar