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FRISCO, Texas — Kendre Miller and Dallas Cowboys running backs coach Derrick Foster are together again. Dallas signed Miller to the practice squad Wednesday, bringing him back to the coach he had with the New Orleans Saints in 2024.
Dallas made the move with Tyler Goodson sidelined by a knee injury. Miller, 24, grew up in Mount Enterprise, Texas, starred at TCU, and ran for 656 yards and 5 touchdowns in 27 games over 4 seasons in New Orleans.
Derrick Foster Will Coach Kendre Miller Again
Miller appeared in 6 games for Foster in 2024 and started 2 of them. He ran 39 times for 148 yards and 1 touchdown that season.
Dallas hired Foster for Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer’s first staff. In Foster’s first season in Dallas, Javonte Williams set career highs with 252 carries for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Cowboys averaged 4.59 yards per carry in 2025, ninth in the NFL.
Foster’s history with Goodson goes back to Iowa, where Goodson made first-team All-Big Ten in 2020 with 143 carries for 812 yards and 7 touchdowns in an 8-game season.
Kendre Miller Grew Up In Mount Enterprise Before TCU
Miller played quarterback as a senior at Mount Enterprise High School, where he ran for 2,508 yards and 34 touchdowns and was named District 10-2A-II Overall Most Valuable Player. A three-star recruit, he chose TCU over Southern Miss, UTSA, and Wyoming.
He finished fourth on the team in rushing as a freshman in 2020 and second as a sophomore in 2021. His 7.2 and 7.5 yards per carry in those seasons ranked among TCU’s 6 best single-season averages.
As a junior in 2022, Miller ran for a team-high 1,399 yards, the most by a Horned Frog since 2000. He scored a rushing touchdown in each of TCU’s first 13 games, made first-team All-Big 12, and was a Doak Walker Award semifinalist. TCU reached the national championship game, but Miller missed it after hurting his knee in the College Football Playoff semifinal win over Michigan. Over 3 seasons at TCU, he had 361 carries for 2,410 yards and 26 touchdowns, averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
Kendre Miller Was A Third-Round Pick In 2023
In the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Saints took Miller 71st overall after a formal predraft visit. That April, he also visited the Cowboys, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.
On April 28, 2023, the night the Saints drafted him, then-Saints coach Dennis Allen described Miller as a one-cut runner who could also make plays catching the ball. Miller spoke with the Saints’ team website after the pick.
“I feel like I’m most definitely a power runner,” Miller said. “I give you speed or power, so I feel like I’m very versatile.”
At TCU, Miller caught 29 passes in 3 seasons. He spoke with the team website again on Aug. 2, 2023, during his first NFL training camp.
“TCU, they didn’t really use me in the passing game that much,” Miller said.
Injuries Limited Kendre Miller’s First Three NFL Seasons
Miller played 21 games over his first 3 seasons in New Orleans. The Saints’ team website has pointed to a rocky relationship with the previous coaching staff and a long run of injuries.
He did not practice with his Saints teammates until training camp opened in his rookie year. By August 2024, he had been through a meniscus injury and a sprain in his right knee, a high ankle sprain, and two hamstring strains. He opened that season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, hurt the hamstring again later in the year, and missed the finale with a concussion. In Week 7 of the 2025 season, he tore his ACL.
A back issue cost him time early in this year’s training camp. He returned for the Saints’ joint practice with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif., on Aug. 18. The Saints’ team website published an interview with him on Aug. 24.
“The injuries, to me, have been a blessing in disguise. I just know how to handle. It’s not the end of the world,” Miller said.
In the preseason finale at AT&T Stadium on Aug. 28, Miller ran 9 times for 42 yards and caught a 15-yard pass against Dallas. In 6 games this season, before New Orleans waived him, Miller ran 57 times for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught 9 passes for 37 yards.
Kendre Miller Joins Dallas Cowboys’ Practice Squad
Williams is the lead back in Dallas. Goodson had moved into the No. 2 role and finished with a career-high 77 yards in Sunday’s 27-23 win after returning from a first-half knee injury. He is expected to miss multiple weeks.
On Tuesday, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan that Dallas would add a running back in free agency. The Cowboys waived defensive back Reddy Steward to open the practice squad spot for Miller, who is not on the 53-man roster.
Dallas hosts the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
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