Brian Miller named athletic director at Plum

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 | 1:32 PM

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Just a couple weeks after Josh Shoop stepped down as Plum’s athletic director, the school district’s board of directors on Tuesday hired his replacement who will guide the Mustangs teams through the remainder of the winter season, into the spring season and beyond.

Brian Miller comes to Plum with more than 11 years of WPIAL athletic administration experience.

He most recently served as the athletic director at North Catholic and helped oversee the development of a new athletics website, sports network and social media pages while various teams and individuals in the athletic program enjoyed success at all levels.

“I’m humbled, honored, and extremely excited to serve as the next athletic director and coordinator of student activities for the Plum Borough School District,” Miller said in a statement.

“Plum has a great reputation in the WPIAL, and I look forward to serving the student-athletes and Mustang community to the best of my ability. My family is equally excited to be a part of the Mustang community. I would also like to thank the board of directors, the administration and all those individuals involved in the multiple rounds of interviews. I am extremely thrilled and can’t wait to lead the Plum Borough athletic program.”

Under Miller’s watch since 2019, North Catholic won a WPIAL championship in 10 sports. Trojans teams also collected three state championships and were state finalists four other times.

He oversaw the formation of JV teams for boys and girls lacrosse, baseball and golf while helping form new competitive cheer and dance teams.

Plum School District Superintendent Dr. Brendan Hyland said 20 candidates came forward after the position was advertised both internally and externally.

Preseason practices for spring sports teams at Plum and throughout the WPIAL begin March 6, and Hyland said a goal was to have someone in place and up to speed in the position before that date.

With Miller finishing his duties at North Catholic and starting to form the foundation for his tenure at Plum, Hyland said he expects Miller to fully start at Plum on or around March 3.

“It is always nice to bring new blood in with a new set of eyes and a new perspective,” said Hyland, who noted the help of both coaches and administrators throughout the stages of what he called a thorough interview process.

“We are really excited to work with Brian. The team thought we had someone who is going to be dedicated to making the best experience possible for our student-athletes. We also saw someone who is very organized and someone who loved athletics. One of the biggest things was Brian’s belief that athletics is an extension of the classroom and their learning opportunities. We feel that Brian brings those skills to the table.”

Building principals at the junior high and high school levels have handled the day-to-day athletic duties to bridge the gap between Shoop’s departure and Miller’s arrival.

Shoop, who came to Plum from Pine-Richland at the start of the 2018-19 school year, resigned from the post earlier this month, citing family reasons for his decision.

He also served as the athletic director and boys basketball coach at Knoch, his alma mater.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Plum