Tag: Rees

Details why Tommy Rees chose Nick Saban over Brian Kelly in SEC jump

Which job would you rather have?

As you know by now, former Notre Dame offensive coordinator [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] left his post to take the same position on Nick Saban’s staff a week ago.  It wasn’t the former Notre Dame quarterback’s first chance to head to the SEC as [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] tried to make Rees his offensive coordinator when taking the LSU job last year.

So a year later, why was Rees willing to get on a plane and head to Tuscaloosa after saying no to the Bayou?  Pete Sampson of The Athletic joined the Paul Finebaum Show and discussed exactly that.  Sure, money had some to do with it, but as Notre Dame fans know, the freedom to do what he wanted was a factor, too.

“And I think that once the sort of, finances got taken off the board, then it was a question of ‘Well I can go with Brian Kelly and basically be the same coach I’ve been for the last five years at Notre Dame. Just with different colors. Or I can stay at Notre Dame, even though it’s the same place, and do a different job,’” Sampson said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Tuesday. “Because, suddenly, he had autonomy under a defensive head coach with Marcus Freeman. And I think that Rees really got to flex a little bit last season in some spots.”

Under Kelly, who himself has a background as an offensive coach, Rees didn’t get to really get his hands fully around running the offense.

“When you’re an offensive coordinator for an offensive head coach, you’re sort of — you’re not quite the full coordinator, some times. And I think that Rees got a taste of that last season, under Marcus Freeman. So ultimately that was why he decided to stay. But I think it’s also the reason he decided to leave, the professional development question,” Sampson said.

If Rees truly does want to be coaching in the NFL one day then learning under Nick Saban is a good way to potentially do it.  That and the five-star talent his roster will be loaded with that would probably make you and I both look like decent play callers and offensive minds, too.

A big thanks to our colleagues at LSU Tigers Wire for alerting us to the Finebaum-Sampson interview.  Check out their work for everything related to LSU athletics.

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Notre Dame football: Making sense of Tommy Rees to Alabama

Tommy Rees isn’t all of a sudden any less of an “ND Guy” writes @alwaysirishinc

As you’ve heard and read from me many times before, Notre Dame is never boring. It’s always the next something. And here we are again.

In what is normally a rather slow part of the calendar in terms of news and action, big news dropped out of South Bend. Now offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has left Notre Dame for the same role at Alabama.

Reactions to this news from the fan base on social media and my morning call-in show were what one would expect. Mixed. Many feel that this next season is one where Notre Dame would have more offensive talent and that Rees could finally ramp the offense up significantly. Others have felt that it is time for Freeman to have a clean slate to build the program free from all things Kelly era-ish, including Rees.

In terms of this from the other side of the table, this move makes plenty of sense for Rees, and here’s why.

Notre Dame football: Rees News Ramps Up Pressure On Freeman

Will Notre Dame be better off in the long run?

I truly do think it’s healthy for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] to part ways. On one hand, it frees Rees to explore life out of the Notre Dame microscope. On the other, it allows Freeman to break further away from the [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] era and further mold the program through his vision.

In this newfound Freeman freedom though, exists a ton of pressure. New pressure. When Freeman was initially hired as head coach, the staff was still primarily made up of coaches that had been in the program under Kelly. There was comfort in that through the transitional phase of the Freeman era getting underway.

But every day that Freeman drifts further away from the Kelly era, more pressure falls upon him to win and win big. The Kelly roster excuses are going away. The Kelly coaches are going away. The Kelly vibe excuses are going away. It’s getting close to winning time for Freeman, Let’s examine this newfound pressure in some detail.

Notre Dame football: 9 potential candidates to replace Tommy Rees

Who do you want to replace Tommy Rees?

Just a year after declaring he wanted to stay and fight for Notre Dame, offensive coordinator [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] is off to Tuscaloosa to join Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. Rees took over as Notre Dame’s play-caller in 2020 and showed signs of stardom. He also made a few decisions that left Notre Dame fans rather frustrated.

The new offensive coordinator will be tasked with some difficult things.  Notably, Rees raised the level of talent in the quarterback room significantly.  When you look at what Notre Dame had at the position on their roster from 2017-2022 and look at the projected depth charts in coming years you can’t help seeing a significant step in the right direction.

But who will replace Rees?

This will be a massive test for Marcus Freeman early in his head coaching career because the hiring of quality assistants is a must for any sustained success. Here are nine names he would be wise to at least look at to replace Rees.

Tommy Rees Notre Dame-Alabama update – reports says offer has been made

Huge development on a developing story…

There has been a giant development in the [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] saga that seemingly came out of right field today.  As you probably already know by now the Notre Dame offensive coordinator boarded Alabama’s private jet for a meeting with Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa this afternoon.

According to a report from Football Scoop, Rees has in fact been offered the offensive coordinator position at Alabama.

From the Football Scoop report:

Later Thursday afternoon, sources told FootballScoop that Alabama has already issued a preliminary job offer to Rees to become the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.

Additional sources have told FootballScoop that the situation is not believed to be one about money; in fact, per sources, the initial Alabama offer to Rees was in the range of $2 million per year, on average.

It would certainly appear the ball is now in Tommy’s court.  Will he stay or will he roll out of South Bend?

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Notre Dame football: Tommy Rees through the years

Tommy Rees has spent roughly 1/3 of his life at Notre Dame. Here’s a look at his decade with the Irish.

Outside of a three-year window from 2014-2016, [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] has been associated with Notre Dame football since entering as a freshman in 2010.  He took over as the starting quarterback that season, guiding the Irish to wins in their final four games.

2011 saw Dayne Crist start at quarterback before Rees again took over the reigns along with Andrew Hendrix in helping the Irish to a Champs Sports Bowl berth.  Projected to be the starter in 2012, Rees was arrested at an off-campus party the summer before.  As a result he was suspended by Brian Kelly for the opening game that year and Everett Golson wound up leading the Irish to a 12-0 regular season that year.

Rees closed his playing career by helping the Irish to a 9-4 record and Pinstripe Bowl victory over Rutgers.  After getting into coaching as a graduate assistant on Pat Fitzgerald’s Northwestern staff in 2015, Rees spent 2016 with the San Diego Chargers.

Rees returned to Notre Dame in 2017 where he was quarterbacks coach for two seasons.  Since 2019 he’s been Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator.

In all, Rees has spent 10 years at Notre Dame.  Will it be more or will he take a prime coordinator job elsewhere?  Time will tell but as we wait, enjoy a look back at Rees as both a player and assistant coach at Notre Dame.

Breaking: Alabama in pursuit of Tommy Rees for OC opening

Potential huge story developing…

A year ago Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said he wanted to “fight for Notre Dame” when he decided to remain offensive coordinator despite being offered to follow Brian Kelly to LSU.  Now it appears Rees will have a decision to make on how badly he wants fight for the university he graduated from again.

According to Chris Low of ESPN, Rees has emerged as Nick Saban’s top target to fill the open offensive coordinator position at Alabama.  Low goes as far to say that Rees is expected on Alabama’s campus today to further discuss the position.

This is a big story with the chance to blow up into a huge one.

Will Rees decide to go?

If so, who replaces him?

And then what happens with the offense this year as well as the star offensive recruits already in the 2024 class?

We’ll be following this story all day and if anything breaks we’ll be sure to share it with you immediately.  It certainly appears a certain percentage of Notre Dame fans could be getting their wish with Rees, but I’ll be the first to plant my flag and tell you to be careful what you ask for.

Developing…

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Notre Dame’s Tommy Rees named to Herbstreit’s top performing coaches of Week 4

How impressed were you with Tommy Rees on Saturday?

All too often in life we go around searching for someone to blame for something.  Instead of it being a collective failure, it has to fall on one person.  One scapegoat, if you will.

That one person seemed to be offensive coordinator [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] after the first three weeks of struggles for the Fighting Irish offense but before their 45-32 dismantling of North Carolina.  It turns out Notre Dame fans weren’t the only ones giving praise to Rees for the offensive breakout but that [autotag]Kirk Herbstreit[/autotag] took note as well, listing the former Notre Dame signal caller as one of his top performing coaches in all of college football for Week 4.

Notre Dame’s offense scored six touchdowns, nearly a seventh before a goal line fumble, and totaled 576 yards on the afternoon.

Rees was one of seven coaches mentioned by Herbstreit as he actually ranked second for the weekend.  See the seven Herbstreit ranked in order below:

Notre Dame football: Tommy Rees not(r)ebook

Tommy Rees gave the 4-1-1 on Notre Dame’s offense early in camp. Here is what you have to know.

Notre Dame is two practices into their 2022 fall camp as their opener at Ohio State now sits less than four weeks away.  Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees met the media after the second practice of the fall Saturday and shared a bit of a peak behind the curtain about what is going on with Notre Dame’s offense early in camp.

Where have the Irish spent literally all of their time working on the offense early on?

What are the early returns on the quarterback competition that Marcus Freeman discussed on Friday?

And why did one of the nation’s best centers move to guard?

All of that and more from Rees on Saturday is below.

Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees discusses Fiesta Bowl

What is your favorite college bowl game and why (non-CFP)?

Marcus Freeman had the recruiting itch so was out and about trying to make the future of the Notre Dame football program better Sunday evening.  As a result, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees met the media instead of the head coach in advance of the Fiesta Bowl which the Irish had been announced to be playing in earlier in the day.

Below is everything Rees had to say about Notre Dame’s invitation to the Fiesta Bowl, his initial thoughts on Oklahoma State, and everything else in regards to the health of players and the crazy week that was for the Fighting Irish football team.