Samuel Davis Mills III (born May 20, 1978) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is currently the defensive line coach for

UAB UAB may stand for: *Uždaroji akcinė bendrovė, a type of limited liability company in Lithuania Organizations *Apostolic United Brethren, polygamist Mormon fundamentalist church *University of Alabama at Birmingham, a public research university ...

. He has also served as a defensive line coach for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He is the son of

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

Sam Mills Samuel Davis Mills Jr. (June 3, 1959 – April 18, 2005) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. He also played f ...

Coaching career

Carolina Panthers

In 2005, Mills was hired by the

as a strength and conditioning coach and defensive assistant. In 2006, Mills was promoted to defensive quality control coach. In 2011, Mills was retained by new head coach

Ron Rivera Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962) is an American football executive and former professional player and coach who is the general manager for the California Golden Bears. He played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as ...

and was promoted to assistant defensive line coach. In December 2018, Mills was promoted to defensive line coach after

Brady Hoke Brady Patrick Hoke (; born November 3, 1958) is a former American football coach. He was most well known for serving as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014. He also served as the head football coach at Ball ...

was fired. Mills served as an assistant coach for the

East-West Shrine Bowl East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

in 2018, and a year later, he was named the head coach of the East squad for the 2019 Shrine Bowl. On February 13, 2019, the Panthers announced that Mills was being promoted to defensive line & game management coach. In addition to his duties as the defensive line coach, Mills would be assisting head coach

with clock management, replay challenges, and other situational football analysis. Mills was not retained by new Panthers head coach

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American college football coach and former linebacker. He is the head football coach for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, a position he has held since 2023. He was also the head football c ...

in 2020.

Washington Commanders

In January 2020, Mills was hired by the

as their defensive line coach, following his longtime Panthers head coach and mentor Ron Rivera. He was fired by the team in August 2022, with Rivera citing "philosophical differences" as the reason.

UAB

Mills spent the 2023 season as a volunteer assistant coach for Montclair High School in his native

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and spent 2024 working for football analytics firm CAI. On February 26, 2025, he was named defensive line coach for

. The move reunited him with UAB defensive coordinator Steve Russ and linebackers coach Brent Vieselmeyer, both of whom Mills had worked with as position coaches for the Commanders.

Personal life

He is the son of

, a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and Carolina Panthers in the 1980s and 1990s. While Mills III was initially recruited by larger schools such as

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, he missed his senior season of high school football due to a torn Achilles tendon he suffered while playing pickup basketball. He ultimately committed to play defensive back for his father’s alma mater, Division III

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Clifton and into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public un ...

. As a teenager, Mills III worked on the equipment staff for the Panthers. https://www.nydailynews.com/1997/08/31/in-his-footsteps-sam-mills-iii-follows-famous-father-at-montclair-state/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Sam, III 1978 births Living people African-American coaches of American football Carolina Panthers coaches Washington Commanders coaches Montclair State Red Hawks football players People from Long Branch, New Jersey Players of American football from Monmouth County, New Jersey 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen UAB Blazers football coaches