Top 2020 DE Rylie Mills Impressed With Notre Dame Once Again
2020 Lake Forest (Ill.) defensive end Rylie Mills isn’t a stranger to Notre Dame but Saturday’s night win against Michigan was a special trip for the four-star prospect.
“It was great,” Mills told Irish Sports Daily. “I loved the atmosphere at Notre Dame. It was a huge win. I was happy to be there and see them pull off the win.”
The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder felt the emotion inside Notre Dame Stadium and was blown away by seeing the fan support throughout the day.
“The fact it was a rivalry game was a big deal along with it being the first game of the year,” stated Mills. “It was awesome to see all the support. It was a great atmosphere. Everyone in the crowd was really supporting the Irish and was excited to be there.”
During the game, Mills was paying close attention to defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. A broken foot shortened Tagovailoa-Amosa’s night, but Mills saw an intriguing role.
“I was watching the defensive line and Myron,” explained Mills. “He was playing in the 3-tech and the 5-tech. Coach Elston see’s me playing in that role as a hybrid defensive end. I liked the way they played him because he was doing stunts, rushing the quarterback and making plays in the backfield.”
Defensive line coach Mike Elston made sure to point out Tagovailoa-Amosa to Mills while also making sure the Lake Forest star knew he was a top target.
“He said he really wants me and I’m a top priority for him,” said Mill. “It was good to hear he wanted me there and I appreciated it. I saw the love was there and he really wants me.
“He spoke about his defensive line working and how he was having a true freshman play. They are getting a lot of opportunities.”
The Irish defense definitely backed up Elston and Mills felt it was important it see production on the field.
“When I saw the game, the defense was insane throughout the whole game,” Mills said. “Coach (Clark) Lea did a great job calling plays. That was something to watch.
“Michigan is a top program, and Notre Dame really brought it to them.”
Before the game, Mills got to hang out with multiple recruits in the recruiting tent outside Notre Dame Stadium, but he also got to meet some of Notre Dame’s former players.
“I got to meet DeShone Kizer and Justin Tuck, who works at Goldman Sachs,” recalled Mills. “He was talking about how after football people want to talk about his two Super Bowls, but when he talks about graduating from Notre Dame people go ‘Oh’ and now he works for Goldman Sachs. Notre Dame can open up a lot of opportunities.”
There are a few 2020 defensive linemen Mills has become close to, and that’s by design.
“Coach Elston did a great job of introducing me to a couple of the recruits,” explained Mills. "I got to hang out with Braiden McGregor and we’ve definitely been talking for the last couple of days. I really like him, and he’s a cool kid. We make a great duo.
"I met Cole Brevard on a visit before. It was great seeing him there, and he hit me up letting me know he was going to be there. It was great connecting with him. A lot of kids I met were kids I could connect with and be friends with.”
Mills will now head out to see a couple of Big Ten programs later this fall, including the Buckeyes.
“I’ll be heading up to Wisconsin in a few weeks,” said Mills. “After that, I’ll be heading over to Ohio State.”