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In the 1920’s the local high school in Brewton was Brewton Collegiate Institute, a private school for boys and girls. Football was played as far back as 1924, and in 1925 the school was renamed T.R. Miller High School and became a public high school. The school was located on the corner of Belleville Avenue and Underwood Street, the present location of Brewton Elementary School. The football field eventually became known as Rotary Field. It was located at the back of the school closer to Highway 31. The bleachers were wooden on both sides and located very close to the field. There were trees surrounding the side closest to the school and at a crowded game spectators would sit in the trees for a better view of the action. The team played at Rotary Field until mid season 1965 when it moved to the present Brewton Municipal Stadium.
The T.R. Miller Tigers original colors were black and gold. Players who earned a varsity letter in the 1920’s would receive a big, gold “M” which they would sew on a black sweater. From 1931 through 1934 the team won 30 games under Coach Jack Finklea, much of it playing against larger schools of the day. Those schools included Pensacola High School, Greenville, UMS, Baldwin County and Escambia County. The team used the Notre Dame offensive system and it was known for its ability to score points. When Miller defeated Greenville 13-0 in 1933, it was the only lost for the Greenville team that year. The school annual in 1936 said that the team played some of the best schools around south Alabama “because it was the kind of schedule the public desired.”
The 1935 and 1936 teams lacked much size and won only 3 games total. In the March of 1937, school board president Leon Brooks offered the coaching job to a recent graduate of the University of Alabama named Ben McLeod. McLeod had 
been a three sport letterman at Alabama and accepted the position of coach and athletic director for $150 per month. One of his first moves was to change the colors of the team from black and gold to crimson and white. McLeod proved to be an outstanding defensive coach and his teams got better each season. From 1939 through 1941, the Tigers lost only 3 games. Miller gave up only 40 points total in those three campaigns. The 1941 team became T.R. Miller’s first undefeated football team winning all 8 games and its defense surrendered only one lone TD to Georgiana during the entire season. The team was led by two four year starters Bruce Long at guard, and back W.J. Monk who had made All State in 1940. But the star of the team was Hosea Rodgers, a 195 pound back who made the Birmingham News/Post Herald All State team and signed a scholarship to play with the University of Alabama. The team was honored with a banquet on Friday, December 5th, 1941 at the Lovelace Hotel (present location of the the Bank of Brewton in downtown) before an over flow crowd. The guest speaker was Coach Frank Thomas, head football coach at the University of Alabama. After speaking Coach Thomas showed a color film of the Alabama-Georgia Tech game from the ’41 season to the delight of all. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor two days later, McLeod was off to a career in the Navy and would never coach again. The first great era of Miller football was over.
After losing seasons during the war years of 1942 and 1943, Miller would rebound with its second great streak of winning football from 1944-1948. The Tigers would not win less than 7 games during that five year stretch. Brewton native Tommy McMillan who had played football with Bear Bryant at Alabama in the 1930’s, took over the team in 1944 and won 7 games. In 1945 Coach Hal Wyatt appeared on the seen and would be the Miller coach for nine seasons. His tenure is the second longest in school history. After winning seven games in ’45, his 1946 team gave up only 20 points in nine games. The only blemish on the season was a 7-7 tie with Escambia County. The 1946 season was significant for the first meeting between the T.R. Miller Tigers and the W.S. Neal Eagles. Neal had started playing football in 1940. The game was played on November 22nd as a charity game for the local hospital, which at that time was known as Escambia Hospital. The game was not on the preseason schedule, but the two teams original opponents in the last games (Evergreen and Flomaton) agreed to play each other so the charity game could take place. On a cold evening Miller finished off the second greatest season in school history with a 25-0 victory. The game, later to be known as the Battle of Murder Creek, has been played every year since and is always one of the biggest events in the community.
Scotty Byrne came back from the war in Europe and re entered T.R. Miller High School. As a senior in 1947, he helped lead Coach Wyatt’s team to an 8 win season, tying Evergreen and losing to Atmore. After a seven win season in 1948, Miller slipped to 3-6 in ’49. After winning five games in 1950, Coach Hal Wyatt’s Tigers would set a school record with nine wins in 1951. After losing the first game to Baldwin County, Miller ripped off nine straight victories. Don Smith was an outstanding runner and receiver scoring 16 touchdowns. Charles Ray McLellan not only played QB but was a hard hitting linebacker and Billy Long was a tough blocker and defensive tackle. He made first team All State and signed a scholarship with Southern Mississippi. The Tigers were good again in 1952, winning seven games. From 1939-1952 the T.R. Miller Tigers won at least seven games in 10 of the 14 seasons. When Coach Hal Wyatt resigned after the 1952 season, he had won more games than any coach in Miller football history and during his nine year tenure suffered only one losing season.
Coach Bob Riley took over the helm for Miller in 1954 and the Tigers won but three games. In ’55 the Millers lost 52-13 to Andalusia in the first game and went through the entire season without a win for only the second time in school history. But the Miller team upset Andalusia 13-0 to open the 1956 season and made a great turn around going 6-4. In 1957 the Tigers had their best team since 1951. They won the first five games outscoring their opponents 158-19. After Losing to Baldwin County 19-0 and tying a great Escambia County team 7-7, the Tigers bowled over Monroe County 47-13 and Evergreen 41-6. In the last week of the season, they tied Milton 14-14. Miller ended the season ranked #13 in the Birmingham News Poll of 2A schools.
As the 1958 season began, the Miller Tigers were about to enter the darkest period in their football history. The Tigers went 4-6 but only scored 34 points in the last six games. In the final game the Tigers lost to Milton 63-0. It was Miller’s worst loss in 22 years.
Miller ended the decade with another 4-6 record in 1959. But the worst was yet to come.
