Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2025 39 said. "Having that camaraderie and trusting each other, just going out there and playing football, [it was special]." 'NFL READY' Rylie Mills has been cooking a lot lately. With the next phase of the for- mer Notre Dame defensive lineman's life rapidly approaching — he's a legit NFL Draft prospect who could hear his name called in Green Bay, Wis., in late April — his parents and girlfriend told him he needs to become a bit more in- dependent. It's independence for the future, yes, but also independence for now. Mills got way too used to being able to ask those close to him for favors while he was rehabbing his surgically repaired knee in the last two months. Mills in- jured it in Notre Dame's first College Football Playoff game Dec. 20. He's been on the mend ever since. It completely altered the end of his college career and the onset of his preparation for the pros. "That's part of the game," he said. "That's the risk you play every time you go out there." Mills obviously couldn't work out in Indy because of his current physi- cal condition. So in addition to getting better on his own in the kitchen — and performing other daily tasks on his own again, too — Mills has been working hard to make sure the mental side of the combine is second nature. Too often for draft hopefuls, it's not. He doesn't want there to be anything that can catch him off guard in conver- sations with prospective franchises that might draft him. "Since I can't do any of the physi- cal stuff, all of the interviews became my Super Bowl," Mills said. "All I did is, I would watch my film, I'm look- ing over every single team, looking at their defensive line, what they do, their schemes." He's drilling into all of that a lot more because he has to if he wants to make it at the next level. There isn't soaring any higher than the NFL. As big as it gets. Notre Dame, though, was just about as big as it gets in college ball this past season. Mills was a starting defensive tackle and the sacks leader on a team that just finished as the national run- ner-up. Even though he missed the final three games of the season in the Fight- ing Irish's run, the first 13 games of the year entailed an off-field regimen simi- lar to the one he's found himself in over the last month or so. "I'm someone who understands the whole defense," Mills said. "I got to play in Al Golden's defense. I'm pretty much NFL-ready when it comes to the play- book. I just try to showcase that and really put my best foot forward." Golden, one of the most prized col- lege-to-NFL hires of this year's coach- ing carousel cycle, undoubtedly made Mills a better player in the latter half of his college career. The Cincinnati Ben- gals are well within reason to be op- timistic that Golden is the guy who's destined to turn their defense around. Just look at Notre Dame's gaudy defen- sive statistics in the last couple seasons. Mills deserves plenty of his own credit, though, too. Dedication, like that of Golden, creates destiny. Shortly after knee surgery, Mills rented an RV and his parents drove him from the Midwest to Florida for the Orange Bowl win over Penn State. He watched the Sugar Bowl on TV and told himself he wasn't going to watch his team from afar another time. At the Orange Bowl and national c h a m p i o n s h i p ga m e , M i l l s p u l l e d younger players aside on the sideline and chatted with them between defen- sive series. His playing days effectively ended in December against Indiana but his impact continued on for another month. "That kind of forced me to become a leader off the field and really try to put myself out there and lead guys without actually being out there to prove it on the field," Mills said. "I was just glad to be a part of it and still help the team." If team interviews really were Mills' self-proclaimed "Super Bowl" at the combine, then he was ready to perform like Eagles standout Milton Williams. Mills prepared to have the interview- setting success equivalent to notching 2 tackles for loss in an 18-point Super Bowl victory. Mills would love to bench and run and prove himself every bit the physi- cal freak he comes off as, but he's just as much looking forward to impressing team officials with his responses and wit. "That's one thing I pride myself on," he said. ✦ Rylie Mills had his season end early with a knee injury in the first round of the College Football Playoff, but he continued to provide leadership for his teammates during Notre Dame's run to the final. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER