Why Tommy Rees is such a key piece to Notre Dame coaching puzzle

If Tommy Rees is a big part of Notre Dame’s future plans does that tell us something more about the next head coach?

Brian Kelly is yesterday’s news as he’s been greeted at the airport by some of the most hospitable the bayou has to offer, and takes on the task of cleaning up the mess Ed Orgeron left behind.

Who from Notre Dame will follow Brian Kelly is the biggest question the Fighting Irish football program will face in short order, and how do they go about combating Kelly’s recruitment of his former assistants?

Pete Sampson shared a tidbit on Kelly’s pursuit of Marcus Freeman Tuesday morning and it got me thinking how Notre Dame simply can’t afford to lose his services, even if that means Freeman being the next head coach.

What about offensive coordinator Tommy Rees?  Sampson shared a tidbit on him Tuesday afternoon as well.

For conversation’s sake let’s assume Sampson is 100% correct on all of this and quickly dissect to see where it takes us:

  • Notre Dame wants to keep Tommy Rees as their offensive coordinator
  • Notre Dame’s new head coach wouldn’t have their choice as to who offensive coordinator is
  • What established head coach wants to come to a job where they don’t get to handpick their most important assistants?

I think you can see where I’m going here without me saying anything more.

If you’re rooting for a certain heralded Notre Dame assistant to be promoted to head coach then I can only imagine the information Sampson presents above would speak well to that as a possibility.

Related: 

Key takeaways from Jack Swarbrick’s Tuesday morning media session

10 potential candidates to replace Brian Kelly

Will anything happen between Urban Meyer and Notre Dame?