Notre Dame Football Recruiting

4-Star Illinois DE Rylie Mills

By ISD Staff

December 18, 2019

2,540

DE Rylie Mills‍

Ranking
ISD: 92 – 4-Star
Composite: 91.7 – 4-Star

Vitals
6-5, 275
Lake Forest (Lake Forest, Illinois)

Senior Stats
45 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and five sacks

Recruiter
Mike Elston

Recruitment Rundown
Rylie Mills was surrounded with Notre Dame connections, so if the four-star prospect ended up anywhere other than South Bend, it would have been a major upset.

Mills attends the same high school as Tommy Rees and trains with former Notre Dame defensive end Kerry Neal.

Notre Dame took advantage of that, but also made sure to get in early as the Irish were the second program to offer Mills.

Mills visited multiple programs over the course of his recruitment, but it came down to Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

However, the academic opportunities, people around the program and fitting in with the current players was too much to turn down in the end.

ISD Expert Jamie Uyeyama
He has good initial quickness off the ball that will only get better as he adjusts his stance while working with Mike Elston. He’ll play with a stance better set up to attack as a penetrator in Notre Dame’s defense and he has the length and athletic traits to excel there.

Mills needs to be more consistent with his pad level and more violent with his hands, but the depth in front of him will give him time to develop into a very good interior player for the Irish.

Favorite ISD Quote
“My parents woke me up and said, ‘Rylie, you’ve got an offer from Notre Dame.' It was a huge shock to wake up to.

"It was kind of a crazy day."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9fIISWI8jU