One of Dedrick Mills’ best runs back at Ware County High School wasn’t even his longest.
Ware coach Franklin Stephens calls it a BYOB play – be your own blocker – because none of his players on the 5-or-so-yard touchdown run bothered to hit anybody. Mills still scored and he didn’t do it by outrunning anybody. Described as a “violent” runner by his coach, Mills simply hammered his way into the end zone.
“When you are a 200-pound kid in high school with speed, ability and power that he does, he can do that,” Stephens said.
Mills has been showing that violence, determination and athleticism since he enrolled at Georgia Tech in the spring semester. Playing behind a mix of offensive linemen in the spring game, Mills still rushed for 47 yards on 11 carries. Coach Paul Johnson has singled him out for praise several times, saying he and sophomore Marcus Marshall are “1A and 1B” in the race to be the team’s starting B-back when the season opens against Boston College on Saturday in Dublin.
“He’s a good football player,” said Johnson, who doesn’t allow freshmen to speak to the media until they have played in a game.
That Mills has rocketed up the depth chart speaks to his ability to learn, dedication to football and his willingness to assimilate into most situations, according to some who have coached him.
Not only is he having to deal with the academic and social transition from high school to college, but he’s also dealing with a new position.
Mills played slotback in Ware’s Wing-T offense, which is much different than B-back. The position is a challenge even to those who have played the traditional running back because the B-back lines up slightly closer to the line of scrimmage, has quicker reads to make and has to absorb a hit from a defensive lineman on most plays.
B-backs coach Bryan Cook and Mills’ teammates say that his running style hasn’t changed from his performance at Ware County. Cook said Mills usually tries to run through the line as fast and as hard as he can. Sometimes, that’s not what he’s supposed to do. Teammates who face him in practice said he can be tough to tackle.
The nuances of the position can be difficultto pick up and the spotlight may be bright because Mills is a freshman in the workhorse position in the offense. But Cook said he isn’t concerned.
“Dedrick can goof something up on one play, it’ll take 30 seconds and he’s beyond it,” Cook said. “He’s a really competitive kid and I think his teammates have grown to appreciate that about him. I don’t worry about him being on a stage.”
Tech’s coaches first noticed Mills when he played a game in the Georgia Dome as a sophomore, according to offensive line coach Mike Sewak, who was Mills’ recruiter. Mills attended one of Tech’s camps, where the staff continued to monitor him closely. It didn’t hurt that Stephens and several of Ware County’s assistant coaches have close connections as former players at Georgia Southern, where Johnson and Sewak formerly coached.
“They’re very good guys to go out there and point you in the right direction,” Sewak said. “Dedrick was somebody we kind of earmarked a long time ago and we’re very happy to have him.”
Mills was more than just a running back at Ware County. He was offered scholarships by several schools as a linebacker. Others offered him as an athlete. Stephens said Mills would succeed at any position.
“He is a violent kid on the football field,” he said.
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