BOISE — The new head coach for Athletic Club Boise comes to the Treasure Valley with coaching experience across all levels of professional soccer in the United States.

The club announced Friday morning that Nate Miller has been hired as head coach to guide Athletic Club Boise in its inaugural season next year. Miller has previously coached in Major League Soccer, the USL Championship, USL League One and USL League Two.

At 39 years old, Athletic Club Boise — who will compete in USL League One — is the fourth club Miller has been appointed to be the head coach at.

“Nate is the ideal head coach for a new soccer organization,” Athletic Club Boise Vice President of Soccer Jeremy Fishbein said in a press release. “He brings a broad base of experience across every level of the American game — from the collegiate ranks to the MLS sideline.”

Miller was an assistant coach in the MLS for Real Salt Lake the last two seasons. Before that, he spent time with San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship under former U.S. Men’s National Team star Landon Donovan. Miller was an assistant coach for Donovan from 2020-2022 before taking over as head coach in 2023 as Donovan moved into a front office role.

Miller also had head coaching stints at Lansing Ignite and Lansing United of USL League One and League Two, respectively, in Lansing, Michigan.

Miller sat down with the Idaho Press in advance of the official announcement of his hiring to discuss his hiring and vision for the club.

He said one of the factors that drew him to Boise was Athletic Club Boise’s commitment to him and the resources within the club. Both teams in Lansing and San Diego Loyal dissolved while Miller was coaching with them.

“The ownership here was so strong and so motivated to bring me here, that I feel like this club has a lot of staying power,” Miller said. “From the outside, what this club was doing before any team was here, the energy around this team, really turned our heads.”

While Lansing United lasted only a few years from 2014-2018 and Lansing Ignite a single year from 2018-2019, Miller was at those clubs from the beginning, so he has experience in building a roster from the ground up.

He said getting the team right from game one will be crucial to make a lasting impression on the fanbase and the club as a whole.

“You only get one chance at a first impression to this market,” Miller said. “The minute we put our product on the field out there, that’s going to be a strong signal to all the supporters and the people of Boise, this is what this club is. You have one crack at it to do it right and I’m excited about that.”

Miller went 16-9-9 as San Diego’s head coach in 2023, earning a playoff berth. He also went to the playoffs with Lansing Ignite in 2019 with a 12-10-6 record.

As for the players on the field, Miller’s is using his network base to reach out to players and agents in order to fill out a squad. Player signings have yet to be announced by Athletic Club Boise, but Miller said he will have a number of former players of his on the roster next season. The same goes for the coaching staff, looking to past people he has worked with.

“There’s a lot of big leaders, former captains, players who have been around who want to be in an environment that’s super challenging for them and they want to go somewhere where they’re going to be treated well,” Miller said of players he is going after.

Miller’s vision for Athletic Club Boise is to be an attack-minded team. Miller’s teams have a history of posting high goal-scoring numbers — San Diego ranked second in the USL Championship in 2023 with 61 goals in 34 games. Lansing Ignite was also second in the league in scoring in 2019 under Miller.

“It’s going to be a high-pressing, energetic team that is aggressive without the ball, playing with a high line,” Miller said. “In possession, we’re going to be a very ball dominant team. My old analyst always told me, you just want to play dominant football.”

Anticipation for the club’s inaugural season has continued to grow, with Athletic Club Boise setting records for season ticket deposits for next year. Miller promises to provide a product on the field the entire community can get behind.

“I hope this is something that becomes a centerpoint of their life,” Miller said of his message to fans. “This is a gathering place where people come to be together but in an intense way and love something and love a team that belongs to them…I hope this is something that produces a lot of emotion for them and a big part of their daily life.”