Coach Chuck Mills Legacy Goes Well Beyond the Field

Tim Tremblay, who is the president of a financial services company, recently returned to his office after being out for three weeks because of COVID-19. 

Adorning his office desk is the "Brothers & Kusins Award" that he earned in 2015 at a Las Vegas meetup for people who had played for or worked alongside former Wake Forest head coach Chuck Mills. Previous award winners included Chief United States District Judge John Dowdell, former Florida Governor and current member of the U.S. House of Representatives Charlie Crist, U.S. Senator Richard Burr and Blairsville, Pa. Mayor Frank Harsh.  

"That meant a whole lot to me to get that from Coach Mills," Tremblay said. "It was a tremendous honor."

Wake Forest players shared stories and remembrances of their beloved coach after he passed away last week in Hawaii at the age of 92. He coached the Demon Deacons from 1973-77. 

"In all my years as a player and broadcaster, I never met anyone with a quicker and funnier mind," said Lou Tilley, former linebacker and current president of Lou Tilley Media. "He was somewhat like Bill Fitch in that regard. His real legacy came later in life."

Starting in 2006, Mills started convening a massive reunion of former players in Vegas, called Brothers & Kusins. It brought together former players for Mills from Wake Forest, Utah State and Southern Oregon.   

"It was our first formal get-together," Tilley said. "We were scattered all over, but he pulled us back together and found time to speak personally with each of us. I know in my case, it was time to make amends. That weekend kept us together ever since. 

"Chuck has a giant email chain on which we stay in constant touch — recently especially. Strange, but the players from one of the worst teams record-wise, remain one of the most loyal and closest knit. He was at the center of that, and that's a good legacy."

The email chain managed by Mills had more than 1,000 members and the periodic reunions in Las Vegas were a joyous respite for all the attendees. 

"He was in Hawaii, so Las Vegas was easy for him to get to," said Johnny Foster, president of Skytech, Inc. and 2020 Gene Hooks Lifetime Achievement Award winner. "Plus he coached at Utah State, so he had some West Coast connections. Las Vegas was the easiest for everyone. We packed up and went to Vegas, and it was just a hoot."

Mills clearly gained a level of respect for Foster. At the first team meeting during his senior year, Foster was introduced as a staff member. He helped load the team plane for road trips and was one of the last to board, always sitting right behind Mills. 

"Are we ready?" Mills would ask Foster. 

"He gave me that kind of responsibility," Foster said. "I packed the airplane. If I said we were ready, we were ready. If I was in the seat behind him, which was the last seat to be filled, we were ready anyway, and he knew that. His ability to empathize and his sense of humor were the two things to really stand out." 

For former Wake Forest quarterback and current Atlanta attorney Mike McGlamry, Mills and Wake Forest are virtually synonymous.  

"For me, I equate Coach Mills and Wake Forest, because that was my connection," he said. "One of the things that I attribute to Wake Forest, and feel the best about, is that I have stayed in touch with and been close to a lot of the guys I played with. A lot of that has been through Coach Mills."

The Demon Deacons and Coach Mills have been on the mind (and body) of McGlamry in recent months. 

"Practicing law in the basement (because of COVID),I haven't worn anything but Wake Forest gear to work since March," he said. "That's because that's how much it meant to me and still means to me. But I think about Wake because I think about the time I was there, and the times I've had going back."

Mills and many of his former players were recognized on the field at Truist Field as the Deacs hosted Utah State on Sept. 16, 2017.  

"That was a big deal to us, and I believe it was a big deal to Coach Mills," McGlamry said. "The fact that we've had a big Wake Forest turnout with this Brothers & Kusins function, continued to invite him and continued to communicate — I know that was important to him. When I look back, he was our coach. I appreciate him and appreciate the opportunity to have played and graduated from Wake; and I wear it every day."

Tremblay was originally recruited by Mills at Utah State, but that changed when his coach got the job at Wake Forest.  

"Son, you're not going to Utah State," Tremblay said Mills declared. "You're going to Wake Forest." 

"One of his recruiting pitches was that if you came to Wake Forest, you got to travel to Japan to play their all-stars," Tremblay said. "I thought that would be the experience of a lifetime, so I chose Wake Forest and had no regrets."

That trip to Japan didn't just pay dividends on the recruiting trail for Wake Forest, it opened to door for college football in the country. 

"Chuck Mills is not singularly, but a majority component of how American football got to Japan and is played today," Foster said.  

The Japanese Times wrote last week that Mills is considered a "key figure" in establishing American football in Japan and the top college football award each year there is the "Mills Cup," the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Mills regularly traveled to Japan to present the trophy. 

"As freshmen, we went to Japan," former defensive lineman John Sabia said. "It was one of the highlights of my life. Things didn't work out in terms of wins and losses, but in terms of life skills and learning through adversity, we thrived as a group." 

As Sabia alludes in that comment, the Deacs didn't win all that much on the field during Mills' five years at the helm, as he compiled a 11-43-1 record. He joined Wake Forest after leading Utah State to a national ranking, then two years after his departure Wake Forest finished 8-4 after a loss to LSU in the Tangerine Bowl under John Mackovic. 

In his first game leading the Deacs, Mills grabbed a 9-7 victory over Florida State thanks to a made field goal with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. 

"We were playing a great brand of football," Tremblay said. "We started off against Florida State, who were big favorites. They came to Wake forest and we beat them 9-7, when we kicked a field goal with just seconds to win the game. It was a great experience. His edge helped us through that. It was tough not winning. It was an opportunity to play for a great school with incredible guys. We played a tough schedule, but I have no regrets. He brought me there, so I owe him for that." 

Sabia said Mills recruited quality people and that shows by the kinship that continues nearly 50 years later. 

"You have to work there," he said. "There's no freebies at Wake. I had to go to class and work every day. And it was a struggle, but when you get through that it makes you a better person. You have to keep grinding, and that's something we learned from Wake Forest and Coach Mills. I love being part of it. It's a point of pride." 

Tremblay won a lot of football games in high school and junior college, but feels like he learned the most during his time with Mills at Wake Forest.  

"It was a real learning experience that in many ways was better than my championship years in high school and junior college," he said. "It helped me through difficult times. I have a financial services company, and I've been through 9/11, the meltdown of the dot coms, the great recession and now the pandemic. How do you react when you go through those times? Do you let them defeat you or do you become better for it? Those were the skills coach Mills gave us. He was a teacher."

Tremblay is set to be inducted later this year in the Santa Barbara City College Hall of Fame, along with New York Mets pitcher Jesse Orosco and Los Angeles Laker forward Don Ford.  

"Coach Mills told me he wanted to be there for that Hall of Fame dinner," he said. "He'll be there in spirit. When I think about people who made a difference in my life in so many ways other than a game, it's Coach Chuck Mills." 

"All of these student-athletes became businessmen, attorneys, physicians, emergency medical technicians and school principals; and understood we were all better off for being around Chuck Mills and the way he approached life," Foster said. "We coalsed over Chuck Mills, his leadership ability and personal development capabilities."