Ryland Harp "Taffy" Milner (September 24, 1909 – June 16, 1999) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. He was the ninth head football coach at Northwest Missouri State College–now known as

Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University (NW Missouri) is a public university in Maryville, Missouri, United States. It has an enrollment of 9,152 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park (St. ...

— in

Maryville, Missouri Maryville is a city and county seat of Nodaway County, Missouri, Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. Located in the "Missouri Point" region, As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 10,633. Maryville is home ...

, serving for 21 seasons, from 1937 to 1957, and compiling a record of 91–62–13. Milner was the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State from 1943 to 1950, tallying a mark of 67–60. He was also the school's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

from 1958 to 1975. Milner attended Classen High School in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, where was coached by

Henry Iba Henry Payne “Hank” Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwes ...

. Milner then attended Northwest Missouri State, where Iba has been appointed head basketball coach in 1929. Milner lettered in football and basketball each for four seasons at Northwest Missouri State. He played football as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and basketball as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. After graduating in 1933, Milner began his coaching career at Jackson High School in

Jackson, Missouri Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson metropolitan area Area. The population of Jackson was 15,481 at the 2020 census. History In 1813, ...

, succeeding Wilbur Stalcup, a fellow Northwest Missouri State alum. Milner died on June 16, 1999, in Maryville.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, Ryland 1909 births 1999 deaths American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Guards (basketball) Northwest Missouri State Bearcats athletic directors Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football coaches Northwest Missouri State Bearcats football players Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball coaches Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Missouri High school football coaches in Missouri Louisiana State University alumni People from League City, Texas Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma Classen School of Advanced Studies alumni