Penn State signee Tyrece Mills to bring versatility to secondary

Lackawanna head coach Mark Duda had spent the prior 20 minutes talking about Penn State safeties Jaquan Brisker and Tiig Brown.

Both set to star for the Nittany Lions ahead of the 2021 season, the former Lackawanna products were points of pride. But in what Duda recognized as something of a trend, the latest commitment from the Eagles to Penn State represented yet another reason for optimism.

Tyrece Mills, an On3 four-star prospect who pledged to the Nittany Lions in May, could be special. 

“The next one they got coming in, Mills is a tremendous player. He’s gonna be unbelievable,” Duda said. “He’s like a combination of the two. I try to tell those guys, he wants to knock your head off but he also has pretty good ball skills in the back. He’ll be something, too. Tyrece is going to be something.”

Wednesday, Penn State head coach James Franklin backed up the assertion.

After a drawn-out process, Mills cemented his place in Penn State’s Class of 2022 by signing his letter of intent. The act made official Mills’ ability to join the program this summer.

What he brings to Penn State

Maybe more important, it also extended Lackawanna’s pipeline of heavy contributors emerging at the safety position for Penn State.

“We’ve had a lot of success with that position specifically, when it comes to the Lackawanna Junior College and what that staff has done over there with Coach Duda, and Coach Reese, and Coach Pardini. I think those things have been helpful, hopefully to both of our programs. There’s no doubt about that,” Franklin said. “With Tyrece, we saw some similar traits. You’re talking about a guy from the region – he’s from Philadelphia Northeast High School – that has been able to go to Lackawanna and continue on that path of great safeties that have decided to come to Penn State.”

In seven games last season, the 6-foot, 200-pound safety made 35 tackles including 3.5 TFL and a sack, plus a forced fumble. Demonstrating his coverage skills as well, Mills also made two interceptions on top of five passes broken up. 

A versatility that Franklin identified as a differentiator for Mills’ Penn State career, it could soon become useful for Penn State’s defensive purposes.

“I think the biggest thing is his physicality. You’re talking about a guy that I think can play really… any three of the safety spots, which is the two deep safeties, but also that field backer/safety player that we’d like to play with. I think he has a chance to play all three of those spots for us,” Franklin said. “I think his biggest strength is coming downhill and supporting the run like Marcus Allen did as well. But he also has the athleticism and ball skills to make some plays in those areas as well. So we’re excited to get him on campus.”

First-year expectations for Mills

Lamenting that Mills won’t be able to join the program in person until after the spring semester, including the loss of March and April’s spring practices, Franklin highlighted a bonus element at hand.

Despite having competed for the past two seasons at Lackawanna, Mills can still play three at Penn State. 

“One of the things that’s great, that’s a little bit different, is whether you’re at Penn State or whether you’re at Lackawanna Junior College, that COVID year still has the same impact,” Franklin said. “So you’re talking about getting a junior college guy that has three years of eligibility here, which has tremendous value in that. It’s kind of a hybrid high school, junior college type of player. 

“We’re excited about his potential and we’re excited about his future. I think the three years of eligibility are significant. Hopefully we can get him involved in special teams and get him on the rotation in the back end and just let it build and grow from there from a confidence standpoint.”