Rylie Mills Continues To Elevate Play For Fighting Irish

Things have looked a little different for Rylie Mills lately. More specifically, Rylie Mills has looked a little different lately. The defensive lineman saw an uptick in his play during Notre Dame’s run of four consecutive games against ranked opponents prior this week’s first bye of the season.

“It doesn't really feel like that all the time,” Mills said when asked about his improvement. “Sometimes it feels like... some days you make a big leap and then (other) days step back. I think the big thing is just I put a lot into practice, and I put a lot of effort into practice because that's ultimately going to help you on Saturdays.”

Mills collected 19 of his 30 tackles this season during the stretch of games against Ohio State, Duke, Louisville, and Southern Cal. The elevation in play for the 6-5, 306-pound senior began with getting a better feel for getting off blocks better at the point of contact.

“I would say I definitely made an emphasis these past few weeks, especially with (Defensive line coach Al Washington), in practice to improve my hands,” Mills began. “Improve my pad level and really making sure... because for a while, I really wanted to focus on being gap sound and making sure I'm doing my job. Now it's kind of like, I gotta let that go and play football like I know what to do. I know how to do it right and now it's just to let it go and play as good as I can.”

Comfort with and more experience playing defensive tackle helps as well. Mills’ weight fluctuated between 275 and 290 pounds last season while he was doing double duty playing both defensive end and tackle. He is locked-in at tackle this season and his play has kicked into a new gear.

Mills set his career-high with 24 tackles last season, but he already has a new career mark with 30 in eight games as he continues to....breakout?

“I don't really believe in a breakout year,” Mills remarked. “I feel like now, honestly, just the work you put in is the work you get out and for me, it's just each year learning more, getting better, learning new things just leads to me having better and better games. Say there's a game I don't do as good, then I know, I have to go back and see what I've got to focus on. So, I wouldn't say there's, you know, necessarily, Oh, he's made a huge jump this year. It really comes down to the work environment and the work you're willing to put in.”

Mills is a senior who played in 35 out of a possible 39 games his first three seasons and now has 43 games under his belt in his career. He could still return for one more year in 2024 thanks to the extra year of Covid eligibility granted by the NCAA. He plans to weigh that decision at a later date, though.

“I honestly haven't really given too much thought to it,” said Mills. “Because I just feel like each week is just week by week.

“I think definitely as we get to the end of the season, and we get maybe a little time to think to ourselves,” he continued. “That's probably when I'll and have a better idea. But right now, I'm not going to say.”