Mills Can Play, And That’s No Line From Laughable To Affable, Idaho Tackle Doesn’t Hold Back

Jim Mills shoots straight from the lip.

He’ll tell you that Idaho State’s Josh Hays whipped him earlier this season. He’ll tell you he loves to see Idaho’s defense getting good reviews after years of scorn.

He’ll tell you he didn’t care who Idaho’s quarterback was in the preseason.

“Everyone was, ‘Hisaw-Brennan, Brennan-Hisaw,”’ said Mills, the Vandals’ senior offensive tackle, in reference to Eric Hisaw and Brian Brennan.

“Hey, put someone in there and they’ll do their job and we’ll do ours.”

And he’ll tell you that losing to Boise State last year wasn’t too bad - if you’re fond of, as he described it, “the depths of hell.”

But someone had to tell him that he had NFL potential.

“I had just made All-American last year,” Mills said, smiling at the recall. “I remember (former Vandal Doug Nussmeier) saying, ‘You’re getting all this as a junior, next year lodde-de-da-de-da.’ I had not even thought about the pros.”

Still doesn’t too much. He’s not sure-fire NFL anyway, but the 6-foot-5, 285-pounder will likely get a shot.

“If I’m lucky, I’ll get to go on (to the NFL), but it’ll never be the same as being a Vandal right here and right now,” he said.

That statement might seem an exaggeration, but consider these days Mills gets to hang out with fellow fifth-year seniors, linemates Eric Johnson, Mike Hughes and Spencer Folau, and he’s been part of a Vandals revival, reversing a floundering 1-3 start into a 5-4 record. “We’ve been on the roller coaster,” he said, “but we’re on the upper part now.”

And, of course, consider that it’s Boise State week. The rival Broncos face Idaho on Saturday at 3:05 in the Kibbie Dome. “It means a ton,” Mills said. “The rivalry’s been going on since I was born. They outplayed us last year and they took the Big Sky ring away from us.”

But mostly, consider that Mills’ only goal when he came to Idaho was to play at Idaho. Modest to be sure, but what’s a gangly 6-5, 210-pounder supposed to think?

“I didn’t know if I’d ever see the field here, first of all,” the affable Mills said. “All I knew was that I wanted to be a Vandal and whatever it took to come here, I was doing it.”

He was virtually unrecruited, but he saw that older brother, Jay, a Vandals defensive lineman, enjoyed Moscow.

The younger Mills received only out-of-state tuition, the equivalent of an in-state walk-on.

Mills was quickly shuffled from defensive line and tight end to a home at tackle. Still, he was a 235-pound backup as a redshirt freshman, and, admittedly, not a dedicated worker. That tendency changed, though, and he finally bulked up to 255 pounds, earning a starting tackle spot as a sophomore in 1993.

“I knew deep down, I wasn’t good enough to play tight end,” he said. “Other kids were a lot better than me, plain and simple.”

These days, there may not be a better tackle in Division I-AA.

“At this level, he’s as good as it gets,” UI coach Chris Tormey said. “He would have started for any of the Washington teams I was with (as an assistant), maybe not at tackle, but he would have started.”

“He definitely has the ability (to play in the NFL),” said Vandals’ line coach George Yarno, a 12-year NFL line veteran. “He possesses the things you can’t give a player - intelligence, natural balance. He’ll probably play at guard or center.”

Mills plans on working on long-snapping after the season to enhance his NFL chances.

For now, thoughts of his nearly complete UI career occupy his mind. He fondly recalls UI rushing for more than 300 yards against Weber State last year and true freshman Jerome Thomas producing 122 ground yards a week ago.

This season has been the ultimate challenge. Mills was scorched by Hays, Idaho State’s speed-rushing end, in September. “I wasn’t prepared and I got showed up on the field,” Mills admitted.

But more often, he’s proud of what the Vandals, and the line, have accomplished.

“I’m starting to get satisfied - I won’t be satisfied, obviously, until after this weekend,” he said. “When we were 1-3, that was the pits. You start wondering, ‘Did I skip a class; is God punishing me? Did I get enough sleep? Was I sleeping much when we were winning last year?”

What he discovered is, “it takes hard work and preparation to win games, and that’s what I’ve been told all along.”

He hopes that discovery holds true on Saturday.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo