Captain Chronicles | 'I Found My Love for the Game Again': Miles Scott Embraces Position Change, Earns Role as Captain

The only thing Miles Scott needed was an opportunity.

He knew he was talented enough. He knew he was motivated enough. He knew he had all the necessary traits to succeed.

The only thing missing was an opportunity.

“I have always had the odds stacked against me my whole life,” Miles Scott said. “I knew that I was good enough to play with these guys. That's always my mindset. I have a chip on both shoulders. That's how I've always been, so it's not a big deal.”

Embracing the doubt and challenges thrown his way, Miles Scott used his frustration to his advantage, and his hard work eventually paid off. He took the opportunity to walk on at his home-state school, Illinois, and never looked back on his journey from being underrecruited to earning the ability to be a key contributor and captain for the Fighting Illini football program.

“I believed that I would have a big role eventually, but I definitely didn't think it would be like this,” Miles Scott said. “People tell me all the time, 'Dude, your story is crazy with the way that things have happened for you.’ They are wowed by it. 

“It just shows that all things are possible when you trust in God. That's just how I feel.”

Miles Scott’s interest in football began before he was even old enough to take the field. Only 3 years old at the time – two years younger than the requirement to play in his local youth program, the South Holland Jets – and with two older brothers he idolized, Miles could be found on the sidelines with a ball in his hands more often than not.

“If they were doing pushups, he was doing pushups. If they were running sprints, he was running sprints,” recalled Gerald Scott, Miles’ father. “I used to think it was so weird that he was so excited about being on that football field. He always loved the sport.”

Once he was finally old enough to be on the field, Miles never wanted to take off his jersey. After trying on his uniform at home for the first time, Gerald Scott remembers finding his son still wearing the jersey the next morning.

While football was always his favorite sport, baseball was a close second. Admittedly “pretty good” when it came to baseball, Miles usually took the field at either shortstop, center field, or pitcher, positions often designated to the most talented youth players.

Once he entered middle school, Miles made a life-altering decision, choosing to pursue football over baseball, citing his desire to play a contact sport. It was at that same time he started dreaming of competing at a higher level, and he put all of his time and effort into turning that dream into a reality.

“When I was 12, that's when I had it in my mind that my dream was to play in the NFL,” Miles Scott said. “Everything I did was different from that age on. That's when it was a reality. I always believed. I put God first, and I just worked. That's all I ever did. I prayed, I worked hard in everything that I did, and I'm here now.”

For Gerald Scott, who thought Miles was a better baseball player than football, he took his son’s decision in stride, offering his unbridled support throughout that time.

“I've always had this thing with my kids: Whatever you choose, you have to finish it for the year,” Gerald Scott said. “When football season was over when he was in fifth and sixth grade, he would go out in the backyard and start running routes and pretending that he was still playing football. 

“I really never picked past my kids. I always let them make their own choices, but what I always tell them is, ‘Once you pick it, you're committed to it until the season is over.’  When the season was over, he still wanted to play football, so we got him anything that had to do with football.”

Miles played the first three years of his high school football career as a starting wide receiver at St. Laurence High School, located about 15 miles away from his hometown of Dolton, Illinois. Once the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports in Illinois, Miles begged his parents to send him to the East Coast, where the football season was not impacted. 

Gerald Scott was hesitant to send his son across the country. From a football and academic perspective, it was the perfect situation: Miles would be able to continue playing the sport he loved while collecting film to send to college coaches, and he would be able to attend a top school that offered solid academic opportunities.

The tuition for the private boarding school nearly derailed the experience, but after being offered financial support from the school, the Scott family agreed for Miles to move 900 miles east and spend his final year in high school at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Connecticut.

Continuing to talk with coaches throughout his transition, Miles earned offers from multiple FCS programs, but he knew he belonged at the FBS Power-5 level. After receiving a preferred walk-on opportunity at Illinois, Miles made the decision to return to his home state and compete for the Orange and Blue at receiver.

Miles made his collegiate debut in Illinois’ historic nine-overtime victory at No. 7 Penn State in 2021, though he ended up redshirting his first collegiate campaign in 2021. The following year, Miles earned a bigger role in 2022 and appeared in all 13 games while recording his first-career catch.

Despite the increased playing time, Miles Scott struggled mentally. He considered quitting the sport altogether. He knew he needed to make a change, which came somewhat unexpectedly.

“Out of nowhere, Coach B said, ‘How would you think about playing safety?’ We were going into the spring, so I knew it would be the perfect time to try a new position because we didn't have to play any real games,” Miles Scott said. “I went in there and played corner for two weeks. I wasn't the best at it, of course, because I had never done it before. After those two weeks, they switched me to safety, and things started clicking for me back there. 

“I found my love for the game again once I started playing defense. The way God did it is just amazing. It's a beautiful thing. I truly enjoyed playing defense, and I watch so much tape now. Everything I do is football. Even when I go home, I watch YouTube videos of football players like Troy Polamalu, Ed Reid, and Eric Berry. I watch old dudes again. It has really brought the love of the game back into me.”

Going into the meeting expecting different news, Miles Scott knew the untapped potential he could bring to the defensive side of the ball.

“Actually, when I went into that meeting, I thought he was about to put me on scholarship, but that was not the meeting,” Miles Scott said. “When he came in talking about the position changes, it humbled me at first. I knew a lot of the guys had just left – Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown, Kendall Smith, Quan Martin – so I was like, ‘Man, this is a perfect opportunity for me to show my worth at another position.’”

When the Illini defense took the field for the first time in 2023, Miles Scott was out there, too, making his debut against Toledo. Despite the position change, Miles was anything but nervous; he felt prepared and eager to prove himself.

And, that is exactly what he did.

In his first game playing defense, Miles Scott made a game-changing play, returning an interception 48 yards for a pick six – and the first touchdown of his collegiate career. Crossing the goal line and raising his arms toward the sky, Miles will never forget how he felt in that moment.

“It was surreal,” Miles Scott said. “Once I scored, I was just giving thanks to God because only he knew what I was going through internally that past year. It was just an all-encompassing moment. I scored on defense before I scored on offense. It's really crazy.”

Gerald Scott watched his son score from the stands at Memorial Stadium, where he can almost always be found on Illinois game days. Knowing everything his son had gone through to get to that moment – from childhood all the way through his first two years in Champaign – made Miles’ success that much sweeter, but not unexpected.

“Knowing him the way I do, I expect him to get an interception or make some big play in every game, and he expects that of himself,” Gerald Scott said. “I expected that to happen. I'm never really surprised by what he does. He's an extremely humble guy, so he's never gonna brag at all.

“Everybody is extremely proud of him. His humility is his greatest strength. He's going to do whatever it takes, but I've never known him to want the accolades of being a superstar. He always says, ‘If I work hard enough, that's just gonna come.’ He is extremely dedicated to everything he does, whether it be in the classroom, whether it be on the football field, whether it be watching film, whether it be helping his sisters when he’s home, or going to visit his grandparents.”

Starting all 12 games in his first campaign at safety, Miles Scott recorded two interceptions – both of which he returned for touchdowns – while ranking second on the team in tackles.

Now, with one full season under his belt, Miles is taking on another new role this year: tea, captain. One of six captains who were voted on by their teammates and will represent the Illini in 2024, Miles Scott heads into his fourth year at Illinois with newfound confidence and comfort.

All he needed was an opportunity. And he’s made the most of every single opportunity thrown his way.

“With anything that you do, going from the first time to the second time, you know a lot more,” Miles Scott said. “Everything that I've learned in football, I really put it into life's perspective. The same way I had to wait to get to where I am now, I was still working. I was gonna be ready for when my time did come, and that's how I treat life as well.

“I'm just ready to see how this year is going to go. I know I'm prepared for it. 100%. I know I am.”