Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 MARCH 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2020 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY ANDREW MENTOCK A northern suburb of Chicago, Lake Forest, Ill., has a descriptive name that adequately depicts its ter- rain. While the city is synonymous with lush trees and Lake Michigan beaches, its public high school is not known for producing top-tier foot- ball talent on a consistent basis. But every decade or so, the Scouts have a football player who meets the high academic and football stan- dards that the Notre Dame football program covets. In the 2020 class, that prospect was Rylie Mills, a strongside defensive end with the size to also play inside at the colle- giate level. Ten years before him, former Fight- ing Irish starting quarterback and current offensive coordinator Tommy Rees made the same decision as Mills, enrolling at Notre Dame as a part of the class of 2010. "We're both Lake Forest alumni," Mills said, "and it's cool we both came from the same place and we both really understand what it's like living in Lake Forest and playing football there. It's been really cool to see his experience of coming from the same high school and going to Notre Dame." It's no surprise that, despite coach- ing on offense, Rees was heavily in- volved in Mills' recruitment. "Having Tommy Rees, who is a lo- cal guy from Lake Bluff and his father, Bill Rees, I think still lives very close to the Mills — that also was a factor," said Jon Kerr of ScoutsFootball.com, a website the covers Lake Forest ex- clusively, on BlueandGold.com's Pod Like a Champion podcast. Another former Notre Dame player who had an impact on Mills is outside linebacker Kerry Neal, who suited up for the Fighting Irish from 2007-10. While with EFT Football Academy in Highland Park, Ill., Neal trained Mills multiple times a week. Like Rees, Mills enrolled early at Notre Dame and is already on cam- pus and in the weight room with strength coach Matt Balis. Listed at 6-4½, 250 pounds, Mills weighs less than he did during the high school football season when he checked in at more than 270 pounds. This should allow him to have the burst he needs to play defensive end and the size to play inside in third-and-long situations, at least as a freshman. "It's been the same since day one," Mills said. "I'm a little bit leaner now, too, which is good. I can come in and play the best of both worlds, where I can be that rush defensive player on the outside. "Then also for pass rushing and stuff, I can move into a three-tech- nique over the guard." It will be interesting to see if this remains true or if Mills makes the move to defensive tackle full time as his Notre Dame career progresses, but he does seem committed to keep- ing off the weight. A few weeks before Mills was to enroll early at Notre Dame during the second week of January, he and his family went on a trip to Austra- lia, a country full of beaches, to lay around on and restaurants to hang out in. But with the start of his Fight- ing Irish career just around the cor- ner, Mills knew he couldn't slack on his commitment to football. "I'll still be working out the whole time," he said before the trip. "I'm not going to let myself get out of shape just because I'm on vacation. It's like a hundred degrees. I'll be sure I'm in shape in that heat." Still, going on a trip to the other side of the world was a good way for Mills and his family to celebrate and spend time together before their lives significantly changed. In addition to Mills moving to a dorm on Notre Dame's campus, his parents also decided to sell their house and move to Tampa, Fla. "I figured that once I was off to college they would move on to some- where else," he said. "My dad got a job down there and things just lined up when I was leaving, and I think enrolling early helps. They had the opportunity to live somewhere else. Rylie Mills Is Ready To Rock At Defensive End Mills, a 6-4½, 250-pound strongside defensive end from Lake Forest (Ill.) High, battled through an ankle injury in his senior season and enrolled early at Notre Dame in January. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM