When Orangebloods.com spoke to offensive lineman John Mills in late June, the San Francisco St. Ignatius standout was still torn on when he would decide on a college. Mills said at that time he’d either do it within the next week before his parents left for vacation, or wait for about a month until his family returned home.
A little more than a week later, while his parents were in Greece, Mills had a change of heart and he went ahead and committed to Texas while his family was out of the country.
“They were like ‘If you know, you know,” Mills said.
The 6-6, 315-pound Mills announced his Texas commitment on June 24, but he actually told the UT staff of his intentions a few days before he went public with his commitment. It was a close race between Texas and Washington but Mill said UT just had too much to offer.
“The SEC ball, it’s different. The caliber of team Texas is. I think coach (Kyle) Flood is the best offensive line coach in the game,” Mills said. “Texas, I love the state of Texas, love how much they love football.”
With his decision now a few weeks behind him, Mills said there’s a sense of relief knowing where he’ll be attending college, and he’s still thrilled with his decision.
“It feels awesome. It’s still kind of surreal knowing I’m going to be practicing with this national championship-caliber team,” Mills said. “I’ll be around them, it’s nice to say that I’m committed to Texas, one of the top football schools in the country, one of the top academic schools in the country, one of the biggest brands in the country.”
Along with Texas and Washington, schools like Nebraska, Florida and Cal were all involved to lesser degrees. At the end of the day, Mills said his experiences during his multiple visits to Austin and the trust he has in coach Flood was enough to push Texas out in front.
“It’s how many guys he’s put in the league at Alabama. Plus the fact that he turned down NFL coaching jobs to stay at Texas. he’s the highest paid O-line coach in the country. It means something more when coach Sark agrees with me by basically saying he’s the best offensive line coach in the country because he pays him like he is,” Mills said. “He might put five in the league this year, maybe three first-rounders. He developed all those guys.”
Prior to deciding on Texas, Mills said it was truly a seesaw battle between the Longhorns and Washington. The more he thought about the two schools, the more he realized it was always Texas that he was comparing other schools to.
“It was super close, probably back and forth maybe every other day. I was like Washing ton this, Texas that. I feel like I was always comparing the other schools to Texas,” Mills said. “Texas was the standard, the best. That’s what it was for me. Texas was just the best fit for me.”
Mills is currently part of a four-man Texas offensive line class. He’s been primarily recruited as a tackle with the potential to slide inside if necessary.
“Tackle first, but really wherever I can get in the quickest,” Mills said.
