What do football legends Jim Tressel, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh, and Sean McVay have in common? They all trace their coaching roots to the same place—Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, known as the Cradle of Coaches. Miami has produced a significant number of football’s most influential leaders, coaches who have shaped the NFL and college football for generations. A documentary coming out in 2026 features the coaches, their experience, and their love for their time at Miami.
The project began as a passing comment during a commercial shoot, but quickly gained momentum as university leadership recognized the potential to tell the story. From NFL sidelines to Oxford’s own Yager Stadium, the film follows the Cradle’s expansive coaching tree and the emotional connections these coaches still have for where it all began. Jesy Herron and Scott Thompson, the behind-the-scenes duo at Cincinnati-based agency RESLV, produced the documentary. “One of the most surprising things is how connected everybody is,” says Herron, Vice President of Client Partnerships at RESLV. “Miami University truly is this connection point for so many dots across the NFL and across college football.” In fact, there are so many people intertwined with the university’s coaching tree that Thompson, RESLV’s Director & Founder, says they had to ask themselves where to stop. “We could’ve interviewed 500 people,” he says. “Every organization you go to, they have multiple employees that have either worked for Miami or graduated from Miami.”
Cradle of Coaches in the making
Photograph courtesy Miami University
Herron says creating the documentary involved coordinating with current NFL organizations, diving deep into the history of the coaches, and interviewing 80 people. Some of the stories that came out of the documentary include that of John Pont, who helped launch a football league in Japan; Paul Brown, who is known as the godfather of modern football; and Paul Dietzel, who had a successful career at LSU. “You have a lot of people who started at a relatively small school in Oxford, Ohio, and it just expands out from there,” adds Herron.
Watch the documentary in 2026
Photograph courtesy Miami University
Featuring in-depth interviews with coaches and former players, Cradle of Coaches pulls back the curtain on the coaching tree at Miami University and highlights stories from some of football’s biggest names. Visit the website for a sneak peek.
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