By WAYNE ARBALLO
wayne@du2.byu.edu
Another quarterback controversy is brewing for the BYU football team. According to an interview given to the Associated Press by Dave Miller, the father of quarterback Drew Miller, there is only a 1 percent chance that Drew Miller will stay at BYU.
According to Dick Zatkovich, Miller's high school football coach, Miller became disheartened after sitting through the Washington game Saturday in front of a hometown crowd. Miller is from Lakewood, Wash.
BYU head coach LaVell Edwards has talked to Miller and is definitely seeking to retain the sophomore's services. Miller practiced Tuesday after talking to Edwards for 30 minutes. The two will talk again today.
'There are some promises being made,' Zatkovich said. 'If you start making promises and don't follow through -- well that can be devastating.'
According to offensive coordinator Norm Chow, however, there were no promises of playing time made. 'You can't do that,' Chow said.
According to Chow, Miller requested to stay an extra night in Washington while the team flew back home following Saturday's game. Miller said he needed to see a family physician about kidney stones before returning to BYU. Sunday evening Miller called Edwards and said he wanted to transfer.
'We said come back and let's talk about it,' Chow said. 'Obviously it takes away focus from what we're trying to do ... that part's kind of tough. We're trying to get the offense on track, trying to get things going.'
Apparently Miller's father was incensed after Saturday's game.
'Drew's father is kind of an outspoken guy,' Chow said. 'He thinks Drew's a better quarterback than Kevin (Feterik).'
Chow contemplated putting Miller in for the second half against Washington. But when Feterik led the team on two scoring drives early in the second half, Chow decided against the change. Miller was warming up on the sideline for the last five minutes of the game.
At Tuesday's Big Five Huddle, when asked about Miller's status in the program, Edwards said, 'Right now Drew is not a very happy camper. I'd like to see him stay. I'll talk to him and see what (his) thoughts are ... and tell him it's probably not going to be a whole lot different at least for right now.'
Should Miller choose to leave now, he would forfeit his playing eligibility for the remainder of the season.
'That was probably the most devastated I've ever seen Drew,' said Zatkovich. 'However, I think his best situation is to finish out the season there (at BYU) and see how he feels at the end of the year.'
Miller refused to comment on the situation.