It's now 68 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Labor Day Weekend, Saturday, September 1, 2018, against the Newberry College Wolves, in Cullowhee.
For the season's kick-off game, the Cats will host a "White Out" in E.J. Whitmire Stadium as the Cats sport their all-white look, white Adidas jerseys over white pants; and for the fourth-straight year, a postgame fireworks extravaganza.
To help pass those long summer days, and hopefully get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season, and knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the 100-day football countdown each day until kickoff day.
No one is assigned #68 on the spring roster, so we'll highlight another assistant coach -
Pat Mills
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Position: Assistant Coach / Special Teams Coordinator / Tight Ends
Alma Mater: Appalachian State
Graduated: 2011
Pat Mills joined the Catamount football staff in January of 2012, coming to Cullowhee after spending the 2011 season as the tight ends coach at Concord University in Athens, W.Va., a role he will continue at Western Carolina. In the summer of 2015 - and after unofficially handling the duties in 2014 - Mills was additionally named WCU's Special Teams Coordinator by head coach Mark Speir.
Under Mills’ tutelage in 2013, WCU tight end Michael Helms, Jr., was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team. In 2014, tight end Tyler Sexton caught three TD passes. Mills additionally worked with former Catamount tight end, Conner Orr, who was named a Capital One All-District III team selection by CoSIDA.
In 2011, Mills mentored Concord senior tight end Rashid Baker who finished the season ranked third on the team with 32 receptions for 315 yards and two touchdowns. Baker earned honorable mention on the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) post-season award squads.
The Mountain Lions finished with a 7-4 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the WVIAC, claiming its first conference championship since 1990. Concord also qualified for the NCAA Super Region 1 playoffs, the program's first post-season appearance since 1992.
Mills was a four-year letter-winner and three-year starter along the offensive line at Appalachian State from 2007-10, twice garnering All-Southern Conference plaudits. Originally from Charlotte, N.C., and Providence HS, he played in 47 career games at ASU, splitting time at both offensive guard positions.
As a redshirt junior, Mills started all 14 games at right guard, earning second team All-SoCon recognition from the league's voting media after only allowing one sack all season. The following year, he earned first team all-conference accolades, seeing 723 snaps on the field without allowing a quarterback sack.
Mills helped lead Providence HS in Charlotte to a 9-2 record in his senior season at offensive tackle, earning first-team All-Mecklenburg recognition from the Charlotte Observer as a senior.
He is the son of Gail and Dean Mills.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations
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