Ira Miller returned for his third tenure as men’s and women’s tennis coach in August of 2005. The 2011-12 campaign marks his 15th season at the helm of Fairleigh Dickinson’s men’s squad and 14th year with the women’s team. In the fall of 2004, he was inducted into the Fairleigh Dickinson University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Last season, the women made their second-straight NEC Championships final and fell short for the second-straight season as top-seed Quinnipiac edged the second-seeded Knights, 4-3, giving FDU a final record of 10-13. The men were defeated in the semifinals for the third-straight year as the second-seeded Knights fell to Quinnipiac, 4-2, to finish with an overall record of 7-12.
The 2009-10 season was one of historic significance for the women's program. as the Knights' finished with a program-record 17 wins (against only five losses). After starting out the season 4-0, FDU lost three straight before ripping of victories in 13 of its next 14 matches. Riding a 10-match winning streak into a the NEC Championships final agaisnt Long Island, the top-seeded Knights dropped a 4-2 decision to fall just short clinching an NCAA berth. The men earned the No. 2 seed and were once beaten in the semifinals by Quinnipiac in a very close match, 4-3.
In 2008-09, Knights' men's team had their 15-match NEC win streak come to an abrupt halt in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference Championship as the squad was looking to win their third-straight NEC title and clinch their third-straight NCAA berth. FDU's Garden State rival Monmouth upset the top-seeded Knights, 4-2. On the women's side, the squad advanced to the semifinals for the second-straight season but once again fell to Long Island.
In 2007-08, the Knights’ men’s team claimed their second-straight Northeast Conference Championship. The program collected its league-leading 10th title, as over a three-day span the squad failed to drop a point throughout three postseason matches. Their appearance marker their third-consecutive title match. The Knights earned a berth in the NCAA Regional and took on the nation’s No. 1 ranked team for a second-consecutive season, the University of Virginia. On May 10, FDU’s season came to a close in Charlottesville, VA, falling 4-0 to the Cavaliers. Meanwhile, Miller’s women’s program advanced to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament, but third-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson was narrowly clipped by Long Island University, 4-3.
In 2006-07, the men’s team advanced to face the University of Georgia in the NCAA Tournament, a byproduct of winning the Northeast Conference Championship. All six starters received All-NEC acclaim, headlined by NEC Player and Rookie of the Year Philip Stephens. Miller’s women’s team advanced five slots in the NEC standings – as three student-athletes earned All-NEC recognition – led by NEC Player and Rookie of the Year Julija Korshunova.
Miller began coaching the Knights as head coach of the men’s team during the 1984-85 seasons and tackled the dual coaching role a year later. During his first stint at the Metropolitan campus, he guided both the men’s and women’s teams to a first-place finishes. He returned after graduate school to resume his role from 1994-98, leading the men’s team to three-straight conference titles.
The past three seasons, Miller’s programs have been honored as Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Teams. Last year, the men’s team sported a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3, led by four ITA scholar athletes. The women’s squad attained a 3.4 GPA, headlined by three student-athletes. His 1997-98 men’s and women’s squads were also recognized as ITA All-Academic Teams, as he coached three ITA Scholar Athletes from the women’s team that year.
Miller has been named NEC Coach of the Year seven times, headlined by 2006, 2007, and 2008 accolades with the men’s team. He was honored in 1995 and 1997 with the women’s program, while garnering acclaim in 1996 and 1998 with the men’s squad. In 1996, he guided the men’s team to the ECAC Southern Open Championship.
Prior to Fairleigh Dickinson, Miller served as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Drew University from 1998-2005. At Drew, Miller became the all-time winningest women’s coach in seven seasons at the helm. He was voted the 2003 Freedom Conference Coach of the Year for the women’s team and captured his fifth straight honor on the men’s side in 2005. Miller produced 52 Middle Atlantic Conference All-Academic Team selections, including three prestigious Executive Director’s/MAC Scholar Athlete selections and 31 ITA Scholar-Athletes. His women’s squad earned the ITA All-Academic Team honor each of his seven years, while the men’s team had acquired that honor on three occasions. He won the women’s Fall Conference Championships in 2003-04, complemented by five-straight years for the men.
Miller graduated cum laude in 1977 from Clark University, where he was a four-year letter winner, with a B.A. in English and earned his MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. He has taught at both Hofstra University and Fairleigh Dickinson and has published many instructional articles in leading tennis magazines.
Miller belongs to the ITA and serves on the Advisory Board of the College Tennis Academy. He has a national reputation, coaching the 1999 Junior Maccabi Tennis Team at the Pan American Games in Mexico City, and was chosen to serve as the United States Coach for the 2001 World Maccabi Games in Israel. During the summer of 2006, he coached a United States Tennis Association’s Boys and Girl’s 16 Eastern Zonal Squad at the National Zonal Championships. As head coach of one of three eastern teams, Miller led his unit of five girls and five boys to a first-place showing.
Current Record at FDU: 175-220
Current FDU Men’s Tennis Record: 97-107 *
Current FDU Women’s Tennis Record: 78-113 *
Record at Drew: 139-89
Drew Men’s Tennis Record: 80-40
Drew Women’s Tennis Record: 59-49
Career Record: 314-309 *
Career Men’s Tennis Record: 177-147 *
Career Women’s Tennis Record: 137-162 *
* Athletic Department’s historical records are incomplete. Additional resources and statistics are welcomed by the FDU Office of Athletic Communications.
