Uvalde coach credits players for NFL award nom by Texans: 'They played above their heads. I couldn't be more proud of them'

The Houston Texans’ nominee for the National Football League’s (NFL) Don Shula High School Coach of the Year Award is a man who had the unenviable task of steering his program past an unspeakable tragedy. 

According to a report from Houston ABC affiliate KTRK, the Texans nominated Uvalde High School head football coach Wade Miller for the accolade bearing the legendary Miami Dolphins coach’s name for helping the South Texas city heal following a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.

Per KTRK, Miller presided over an arguably challenging season that saw the Coyotes reel off five regular-season wins and a playoff appearance. 

He told the station that his players were “a tight group” before the events of May 24, 2022. 

"They'll never have better friends than the ones they have now,” Miller said. “They're resilient, and they put it on themselves – they thought they had to do well to help the town. We would try to talk them down off of it … They played above their heads. I couldn't be more proud of them.”

Miller and the Coyotes were in Houston last September as the Texans’ special guests at NRG Stadium for the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Daily reported. 

The Texans, who donned “Uvalde Strong” decals on their helmets, and the Colts played to a 20-all draw, but the team still treated the game as a welcome respite from the heartbreak they had experienced. 

Before the emotional trip to Houston – which the Texans and San Antonio-based supermarket H-E-B helped cover – the Texans donated new uniforms to Miller’s program in addition to $400,000 to the Robb School Memorial Fund.

According to KTRK, Miller was touched by the outpouring of support from the Bayou City. 

"The Texans have been great, and then the Astros Day when they bussed the families down, and they got to be on the field, it's just special, and you can feel it,” he told the station. 

Miller's nomination marks the second time the Texans went with a coach from a community in mourning. 

The Texans’ 2018 nominee for the award, Mark Kanipes, helmed the Santa Fe Indians football team to the postseason nearly six months after a shooting at the school killed eight students and two substitute teachers.