"The Sky's the Limit” for Notre Dame 3-Tech Rylie Mills in 2023
Rylie Mills moved back to 3-technique this spring. Now, Notre Dame will feature a long and athletic upperclassman at the position for the first time since 2018.
The 6-foot-6 Jerry Tillery recorded eight sacks and forced three fumbles that fall, leading the Fighting Irish to its first College Football Playoff berth. The Los Angeles Chargers selected Tillery with the No. 28 overall pick the following spring, which made him the first Notre Dame defensive lineman picked in the first round in two decades.
Tillery might be an inch taller, but Mills made The Athletic’s Freaks List as a 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive lineman who possesses a rare combination of elite strength, size and explosiveness.
“The kid is humongous,” former Irish outside linebacker Kerry Neal said. “He's a big kid, but he doesn't move like a big kid. He's really athletic, he can bend well and has a great motor.”
Neal began training Mills several years ago, long before the Lake Forest (Ill.) product became a national prospect with offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and dozens of others.
Once Mills finished high school, his family moved to Florida, but he and Neal remain in frequent communication.
“Rylie is like a family member,” Neal said. “He's like my little brother. We chat all the time. I was able to see him at the Notre Dame Pro Day. I saw him at the spring game this past year. I was able to meet coach [Al] Washington and he raved about how good of a spring Rylie had.”
Mills stopped by Neal’s Chicagoland training facility WIN Performance in early May to work together for the first time in a few offseasons.
“We were able to get some high-quality work and just kind of fine-tuning our hand work, foot placement, working on our footwork to set up moves,” Neal said. “It's just the small little detail things. Those are things that we focused on.
“Of course, Coach Washington does an excellent job with the guys. Coach [Matt] Balis has gotten him really strong and explosive. Kudos to those guys for pushing the bar.”
Mills flashed immense potential at times in 2022. He finished the 16-14 loss to Stanford as one of PFF’s highest-rated defensive players in the country. Three weeks prior, he produced one of the most productive games of his career by sacking North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye twice and recording five total tackles.
Still, he finished the season with 3.5 sacks and is capable of significantly more. ISD’s Jamie Uyeyama recently pointed out Mills could be one of several recent Notre Dame defensive linemen to drastically increase their production as a senior.
In 2017, Tillery played nose tackle and recorded just three sacks. In 2015, defensive tackle Sheldon Day doubled his production from the prior year by registering 15.5 TFLs. That same fall, senior defensive end Romeo Okwara led the team with 9.0 sacks after totaling 3.5 in his first three seasons.
“It wouldn’t be unprecedented for Mills to do something similar,” Uyeyama wrote, “because he clearly has elite physical traits and making the move back inside to 3-tech should help him where he is going to be quicker than most guards and if he uses his length to win as a bull rusher more often, then it’s going to be exciting to see where things go with him.”
Notre Dame likely needs that type of breakout season from Mills if the program is to contend for the College Football Playoffs again in 2023.
The defense took a step back in 2022 with a six-year low DF+ rating, which combines Football Outsider’s DFEI (opponent-adjusted drive efficiency data defensive ratings) and ESPN’s SP+ rankings. Now the defense must replace the program’s all-time sack leader in defensive end Isaiah Foskey.
That’s no small task, but Neal believes his pupil is extra motivated to be a significant part of the solution. It should help that Mills might have a lighter class load this fall after graduating this spring.
He’s also gained the requisite size, experience and confidence to be a force up the middle for the Irish.
Mills just has to put it all together.
“Those are the things that we've talked about — consistently showing up each and every game and having those big impact plays a moment,” Neal said. “Consistently causing havoc in the backfield, consistently blowing up plays. Just be that dominant presence that he knows he can be. That's the goal for him.”
Mills also watched defensive end Lukas Van Ness get drafted out of Iowa in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Barrington (Ill.) native is a former three-star recruit who trained with Mills growing up.
“If one of your guys gets to get drafted, that will really light a fire under your belt,” Neal said. “You're like, 'Whoa, I'm just as good, if not better than these guys, too.' So I think that should probably be his mentality going forward. Obviously, he doesn't have to put any pressure on himself, but I think it's some friendly competition.”
It’s safe to say Neal is excited to watch Mills breakout this fall.
“It's amazing just to see the growth from where we started in day one session to where we are now,” Neal said. “Literally, you've seen a boy turn into a man. He's so strong, he's so explosive and the thing about Rylie is he wants to be great. He puts the extra work in, asks the right question. His energy and effort are never in question.
“It's very rewarding to see that like I've been able to help the kid and help him build a solid foundation. The sky's the limit for Rylie this year.”