Mike Miller is a salesman. His product is part soccer program, part Syracuse experience.

The target of this product is prospective soccer players. One of the main reasons Miller – a first-year assistant coach with the Syracuse men’s soccer team – got a job on the Syracuse coaching staff is because of his strong background in recruitment. That background, Miller hopes, will get these players to the SU Soccer Stadium. First-year head coach Ian McIntyre, who chose Miller for his staff last February, understands the importance of a recruiter to a team that is rebuilding.

‘He’s done very well at other programs and working at other schools,’ McIntyre said. ‘We’re in sales, and if you believe in what you’re selling, that really helps. And I think he believes in his own ability, and I think he believes in Syracuse University. And that ensures that he’s one of the best at what he does.’

Miller acquired the bulk of his recruiting knowledge from his time as an assistant coach at Evansville. Two of the four recruiting classes during Miller’s tenure there were ranked among the top 40 by College Soccer News. The 23rd-ranked 2008 class has helped lead the team to its current 4-4-1 record.

Yet Miller’s task at Syracuse will be no easy feat. The team is coming off its worst season since 1971. The Orange lost to USF Saturday, bringing its record to a lackluster 1-5-3. Not attractive numbers for prospective players. Given the statistical strikes against the program, SU is looking for players who want to help with the rebuilding.

‘I’m sure for a lot of people, it’s the opportunity to play,’ McIntyre said. ‘We’re not the finished product. I hope there are a lot of young men out there that are excited by the challenge of moving us up the Big East table and ultimately competing for a Big East title.’

But there is more to recruiting than a team’s record. Miller said Syracuse helps sell itself. He experienced the appeal of the program himself, as he was looking into the assistant coaching job at SU. Although he was offered a job as head coach of Illinois-Springfield, he wanted to work with this coaching staff and this university.

It is the same for players. McIntyre said the extra benefits that come with Syracuse’s resources are what appeal to prospective players. So even though the program is not yet at the level it wants to be, Miller is still able to make the sale.

‘We have outstanding academics,’ Miller said. ‘So that’s very attractive to parents and student-athletes. Athletic facilities – it doesn’t get any better than this. Indoor facilities, training facilities, everything like that. So that’s another thing that’s very important. And then there’s the Big East conference. A lot of kids say, ‘I want to play in one of the best conferences,’ and you have that in the Big East.’

Miller said he has to do extensive research with past coaches and guidance counselors to get an overarching sense of what players are like and how well they will fit the program.

Most basic, though, is Miller’s ability to recognize talent. He is in contact with scouts across the country, both through his own connections and through McIntyre and assistant coach Jukka Masalin. Because the Orange can’t draw the same players that a more renowned soccer program can, the ability to find talent is particularly important. Captain and goalkeeper Jeremy Vuolo said Miller’s understanding of soccer as a whole really benefited both the team and his recruiting efforts.

‘He’s very knowledgeable,’ Vuolo said. ‘Not just of the goalkeeping side, but of every aspect of the game.’

Although Miller came in toward the end of the recruiting season for 2011, he said the coaches are excited about the players coming to campus next fall. He has been more involved in the player search for 2012, which began this fall.

Because the program is new, the players Miller brings in will really shape the direction of McIntyre’s coaching tenure at Syracuse, especially early on.

Said Miller: ‘Going into it, we’ve decided that these next couple classes are going to be very, very important to what we’re trying to do.’

alguggen@syr.edu