Rylie Mills | "My confidence is at an all-time high"

It’s been a steady rise for defensive tackle Rylie Mills at Notre Dame. From getting his feet wet as a true freshman, earning a game ball against Virginia as a sophomore, becoming a starter in year three, to developing into a force in year four, Mills has taken a step each season.

Normally the next step of the process would be to the NFL, but with an option to stay for a fifth year, Mills decided to stick around for one last ride in South Bend.

He didn’t go into last season thinking he’d be back in 2024. Howard Cross wasn’t thinking about that either. But both of them came to a decision separately and will get to team up yet again as one of the best defensive tackle duos in the country.

"At this time last year, we definitely knew we were coming into a big year for ourselves,” Mills stated. “I wasn't planning on coming back at that time. I know he (Cross) probably wasn't thinking about it. And I know for us, we decided to come back and we both committed to being the best version of ourselves.

“It's been great because the coaches have kept us accountable. We get into fall camp, and I know he's been out for a couple of days, but I know he's been out there coaching, helping the young guys, showing them what to do, and he'll still do drills he can do. I think it's been big for the two of us to be able to be on the same page and grow as close as we can. If we can do the same thing, it's hard to stop us."

At 6-0 288, Cross is the one who doesn’t check all of the boxes that we’d normally expect to see from someone playing the position. Mills is the opposite. At 6-5 297, he’s the one who any coach would want first off the bus and he’s been featured on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List the last two years.

They both have explosive traits, though, and work really well together.

Defensive line coach Al Washington has done a great job developing Mills’ overall game and has witnessed significant growth during the last two seasons. Something that has stood out to Washington is how Mills has embraced the role of mentor and leader with the younger defensive linemen.

“First off, where he's at is he’s more mature and he's becoming more of a vocal leader,” Washington said. “Like after practice, he’ll get some of the guys together, share some of that wisdom. He's more eager to contribute to progress. Like, if he sees something going on that, maybe at practice and I'm over here and he's over there, he's going to address it.

“I just think it's becoming more of a leader. And obviously, his confidence should be high because he works really hard and he’s a really good player.”

That hard work paid off with Mills becoming a much more disruptive player for the Irish in 2023. Out of returning power conference defensive tackles, PFF had Mills with the third best pass rush win percentage against true pass sets last fall at 24.7%. He had dominant stretches where he displayed that freakish combination of size, power, and explosiveness.

Mills has been working on the mental part of his game this offseason to become a better version of himself this fall.

"For me, I always come out thinking I want to dominate the guy in front of me. Last year, there were a lot of days I feel I like was dominating the guy in front of me. But I think the biggest change for me was my mental aspect,” Mills revealed. “I think last year, say I had one bad rep, that would be something that nagged on me for a couple days, maybe goes into the next rep. Coming back, there were things I wanted to work on. I think one of those things was my mental confidence. Hey, I got to flush that rep and go to the next one.”

Washington and head coach Marcus Freeman have helped inspire him in this area too.

“Coach Wash, he gave me this one book about confidence. I read it every night,” Mills said. “Living in the moment, what's the coaching point from that play and forgetting about anything and just thinking about positive plays.

“Coach Freeman had a great story where he saw Aaron Judge before the game. Aaron Judge was looking at highlights of himself before he goes out there to play. For me, that sparked something in me. Why would I waste time thinking about plays when I'm not my best? My confidence now is at an all-time high.”

Mills is passing on what has helped him to his younger teammates as well.

“That's something I've really been preaching to Jason (Onye) and some of the young guys like Armel (Mukam). It's easy when you're a young guy. 'Oh, I messed up a play, I'm not going to play, they're going to be pissed at me.' You have to wipe that from your brain and think what's my best moment? Who am I at my best and how can I be that each time I'm out there?”

At his best, Mills can be borderline unblockable for opposing guards. Teaming with Cross inside, Mills is poised to have an even better season than his breakout campaign last fall.

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