For those that ragged on Tommy...

[WakeUpEchoes]

Tommy deserves his share of criticism...but he is light years ahead of Hendrix.

I don't think he deserves even his share.

 

[FrankMA]

Rees is the best we have and I still believe he would be a great QB for Assumption College in Worcester, MA where BK went to school. How is it that a top rated college like ND has wasted scholarships for QB's like Hendrix and Luke Massa and to a lesser extent Rees?

 

[Booslum31]

My problem has never been with Tommy. It is with the fans that criticize these kids. Do you have so much invested in ND football and so little invested elsewhere that you would behave like this?

It ain't just Tommy, it is the criticism LNix, STuitt, etc have been garnering this year. BJax, yes, he missed a tackle badly, but most of his coverage was superlative, and the rest was competent. Someone made fun of JSchmidt last week for looking lost. The staff got wise and used him as the dollar LB in the change packages, and he brought it home last night, talk about separating the player from the ball.

Maybe this is the way most people live, and eat and breathe, but there is always enough fault to go around. I watched a couple minutes of EOgernon's press conference. Do you realize he had more kind things to say about ND football than some posters do and less bad things to say than almost all of us?

Didn't know much about E Orgernon but he seems like a class act.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

The thing about depth is, what was Kelly supposed to do? He had no control over Golson choosing to not study, and Kiel was going to transfer for sure. In spring Hendrix was our 4th stringer. We had depth, but Golson made a bad decision, and Kiel is physically incapable of making a decision and sticking with it.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

BK called it a neck strain. Will know more in 24-48 hours.

Get a walk-on to donate his neck to Rees. Hendrix is pre-med he can do the operation!

 

[palinurus]

I feel like Hendrix would be a lot better with a week of preparation, but I'd prefer to play it safe with Tommy.

This. Hendrix was tossed into a tough situation. He's not as bad, nor as much worse than Tommy, as he looked, but Tommy is the clear best choice.

 

[Bobias]

How can Hendrix be sooo bad? I mean, he has been playing football/QB since he was 4-5 years old, he was good enough to get a FULL-RIDE scholarship to ND, has been on the team and in Kelly's system for 4 years, plays the game at least 20 hours a week pretty much all year round, and is the direct back up to the starter, yet somehow doesn't know how to do the things that most middle school QBs can do better. How can he be that horrible?? My mind is completely blown on how bad someone who plays QB as a job can be at his job.

Edit: I disagree with palinurus. He is that much worse than Tommy. How would a week of preparation as the starter really change what happened last night? I mean, what does he do all week besides prepare? He should be ready to go in every single game, and should practice as if he is the starter. That is how a competitor approaches situations like this, not what we saw last night. Seriously, how hard would it be for you to jump into a job that you having been actively working for 15+ years, one that you prepare for every single day, and do a capable job?

 

[BobD]

This. Hendrix was tossed into a tough situation. He's not as bad, nor as much worse than Tommy, as he looked, but Tommy is the clear best choice.

But don't you feel they should be spending every waking moment preparing him for what happened last night? I knew Hendrix would be expected to take over if Tommy was hurt, you knew it, why didn't the coaches and Hendrix know it? He looked like they awoke him from a nap.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I don't think he deserves even his share.

AGREED! Why the fvck should these kids be criticized?

Rees is the best we have and I still believe he would be a great QB for Assumption College in Worcester, MA where BK went to school. How is it that a top rated college like ND has wasted scholarships for QB's like Hendrix and Luke Massa and to a lesser extent Rees?

Clausen was leaving early so Kelly needed to get QB's late in his first cycle. Things would have been good if Crist worked out. He didn't. In fact in Kelly's first year, there was Crist, and when he went down Montana, who hadn't even been a scholarship player.

Kelly grabbed five athletes early. The kid who transferred to Ohio U, Massa (who was probably offered with his proximity to Matt James), Hendrix who ran a run heavy offense, Rees, and a kid who led a Columbine team to the state championship in Colorado in '08, Danny Spond. All these guys were brought in for their overarching athletic ability, with the hopes that one would have developed into a starter for this season, right? Then Gholson and Keil were brought in.

Who would have thought that these two guys would dig the trench that they did. I listened to a guy speak last night who said the he has never seen as little to show for as many good looking prospects as this, and as a consequence, he has never seen a coach at a major program have as little to work with at the quarterback position. Between unwarranted transfers, academic problems, lack of overall athletic ability, or personalities not suited to the high pressure situations faced by major college quarterbacks, this guy didn't think that ND had one complete prospect in four years. (Rees had more than everything except some of the physical, and Gholson had everything except the classroom he thought. He declined to speak of Keil.) He went on to say that the configuration of coaches with Molnar and Martins early roles for Kelly were partially to blame for this; translate, Molnar could not evaluate or develop quarterbacks at this level, and Chuck Martin spent all of his time accommodating Molnar while he was head of recruiting.

Not that Chuck was intrinsically bad, this guy thought he should have been working with the qb's instead of Molnar while Alford had the better suited skills to managing coaches as they worked in the recruiting process together.

 

[NCDomer]

B.S. Just because Hendrix played scared and terribly doesn't mean Rees deserves a pass. Rees plays well about half the time. He played well last night. He also wasn't checking every single play like he normally does, which probably helped him play better against a decent defense.

He's not Peyton Manning. Rees is good enough to read the pressures and play accordingly. When he starts adjusting pre-snap coverages and checking plays, the defense is winning some mind games with him. This doesn't take anything away from Rees because he can still read the defense pre-snap well. Instead, it demonstrates Peyton's greatness to not only make the pre-snap reads, but to also outthink the defense with the checks and audibles. That's a whole additional level. Oh and he's got a great arm with a nice touch to boot.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

B.S. Just because Hendrix played scared and terribly doesn't mean Rees deserves a pass. Rees plays well about half the time. He played well last night. He also wasn't checking every single play like he normally does, which probably helped him play better against a decent defense.

He's not Peyton Manning. Rees is good enough to read the pressures and play accordingly. When he starts adjusting pre-snap coverages and checking plays, the defense is winning some mind games with him. This doesn't take anything away from Rees because he can still read the defense pre-snap well. Instead, it demonstrates Peyton's greatness to not only make the pre-snap reads, but to also outthink the defense with the checks and audibles. That's a whole additional level. Oh and he's got a great arm with a nice touch to boot.

No he is not. Thank you for making the point. That is exactly why he shouldn't be criticized, or as our esteemed colleague, BGIF says, "QED!"

 

[irishknight35]

B.S. Just because Hendrix played scared and terribly doesn't mean Rees deserves a pass. Rees plays well about half the time. He played well last night. He also wasn't checking every single play like he normally does, which probably helped him play better against a decent defense.

He's not Peyton Manning. Rees is good enough to read the pressures and play accordingly. When he starts adjusting pre-snap coverages and checking plays, the defense is winning some mind games with him. This doesn't take anything away from Rees because he can still read the defense pre-snap well. Instead, it demonstrates Peyton's greatness to not only make the pre-snap reads, but to also outthink the defense with the checks and audibles. That's a whole additional level. Oh and he's got a great arm with a nice touch to boot.

Ironically the play he got hurt on Rees was again trying to change plays and protection schemes with less then 7 seconds on the play clock.

Rees looked really good in that opening drive of running the fast pace offense and what I would assume is Martin's actual gameplan and not Tommy's version of Peyton Manning for once. Horrible play calling on the goal line but it got ND in a great position to score, need to see much more of that heading forward.

 

[jerboski]

All I am going to say is thank you Tommy for all you have done here. He isnt the greatest qb by far but his value to this years team and his tenure here has been nothing but outstanding. I actually feel sorry for him, its despiciable how some ND fans treat him.

Secondly, some of you are saying that Andrew came off the bench cold so that is the reason for his failures, did Tommy not due that last year, come off the bench and save the day numerous times last year. This isnt even a discussion, Andrew isn't in Tommy's class and this should settle all the qb discussion, Tommy is the guy this year!

 

[BeauBenken]

Just to be clear, what I hate about Rees' play is that he does things a senior QB shouldn't on a regular basis. He can be slow with the ball (his throws don't have any velocity to begin with), he doesn't step in to throws if there's even a hint of pressure, and he places the ball poorly sometimes (throws that may be caught, but led to less yards than they should have). I just want Tommy to be a player and to at least do the little things right because I know he can.

 

[zbikowski88]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Brian Kelly: Tommy Rees remains day-to-day but expected to practice on Tuesday. Sunday update: <a href="http://t.co/cTsi0h5BEs">http://t.co/cTsi0h5BEs</a></p>— WNDU (@WNDU) <a href="https://twitter.com/WNDU/statuses/391995286966378496">October 20, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Joee]

There was a time when I wondered if Notre Dame would ever beat USC and I was ultra sure we'd never win 3 out of 4. BK proved me wrong and maybe he can do something to erase the 1974 game from my memory.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

People seem to forget Hendrix was a highly rated 4 star coming out of HS. They weren't taking a flier on a marginal talent when he was offered, they were getting (what we thought was) a blue chip QB.

It is impossible to know how every player will translate at the next level, so the people high on Zaire and Kizer should temper their expectations until they take a meaningful set of snaps for ND.

 

[irish1958]

If Tommy can't go next week! and Hendrix starts after a week of taking all the snaps in practice we will see how good he is. Judging him after coming in with a four point lead with the instructions to not lose the game is not fair.

 

[connect the dots]

Tommy Rees Appreciation Day

As reporter Dan Murphy succinctly put it - Tommy Rees has been cleaning up Notre Dame messes for four years.

 

[Irishokie]

It is impossible to know how every player will translate at the next level, so the people high on Zaire and Kizer should temper their expectations until they take a meaningful set of snaps for ND.

Did we not learn from Greg Bryant?! C'mon folks!

 

[ulukinatme]

If Tommy can't go next week! and Hendrix starts after a week of taking all the snaps in practice we will see how good he is. Judging him after coming in with a four point lead with the instructions to not lose the game is not fair.

I'm sorry, but you're expecting a miracle. A week of practice isn't going to turn around Andrew's play. He's the same kid from 2011 that struggled to throw the ball, he hasn't improved in the limited snaps he's gotten since then. He's jumpy in the pocket, and the one thing he should be able to do well, thats run the ball/read option, he struggles making the right read on. As Dan Murphy put it: Rees has been cleaning up ND's messes for 4 years. He's rarely gotten the benefit to step into a game where we were winning and he was expected to just "not lose the game." He was expected to come in and win us the game, and he has done it cold off the bench multiple times. Occasionally it's come with boos from the fans. Hendrix has had opportunities to excel, but aside from a big run that he couldn't finish against Air Force, his play just hasn't looked good in 4 years when he's asked to come in. I like Andrew, great kid, and I would support him if he was the starter. You have to support Tommy though, because it's obvious that the coaching staff has made the right call every year as far as who should be getting the snaps.

 

[jerboski]

I'm sorry, but you're expecting a miracle. A week of practice isn't going to turn around Andrew's play. He's the same kid from 2011 that struggled to throw the ball, he hasn't improved in the limited snaps he's gotten since then. He's jumpy in the pocket, and the one thing he should be able to do well, thats run the ball/read option, he struggles making the right read on. As Dan Murphy put it: Rees has been cleaning up ND's messes for 4 years. He's rarely gotten the benefit to step into a game where we were winning and he was expected to just "not lose the game." He was expected to come in and win us the game, and he has done it cold off the bench multiple times. Occasionally it's come with boos from the fans. Hendrix has had opportunities to excel, but aside from a big run that he couldn't finish against Air Force, his play just hasn't looked good in 4 years when he's asked to come in. I like Andrew, great kid, and I would support him if he was the starter. You have to support Tommy though, because it's obvious that the coaching staff has made the right call every year as far as who should be getting the snaps.

Great Post!

 

[ulukinatme]

B.S. Just because Hendrix played scared and terribly doesn't mean Rees deserves a pass. Rees plays well about half the time. He played well last night. He also wasn't checking every single play like he normally does, which probably helped him play better against a decent defense.

He's not Peyton Manning. Rees is good enough to read the pressures and play accordingly. When he starts adjusting pre-snap coverages and checking plays, the defense is winning some mind games with him. This doesn't take anything away from Rees because he can still read the defense pre-snap well. Instead, it demonstrates Peyton's greatness to not only make the pre-snap reads, but to also outthink the defense with the checks and audibles. That's a whole additional level. Oh and he's got a great arm with a nice touch to boot.

BS. No quarterback at the college level is Peyton Manning. I would even say Peyton Manning wasn't even Peyton Manning at the college level, maybe his Senior year. It was a conscious effort to become a film guru, improve himself and those around him, and a drive to become the best that made him what he is today. It didn't hurt that he was Archie's son either.

It's not necessarily about Hendrix's play and giving Tommy a pass. It's about the fact that he IS the guy that is going to lead this team this year. He's playing better this year than you're giving him credit for, and it's not like all the teams we've played have been cupcakes up to this point. There is no Brady Quinn, or Joe Theisman on this roster right now. Tommy is it, and if we can't accept his strengths along with his weaknesses, then theres no hope for the rest of the season and the outside chance we have of hitting a BCS game is lost.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Something I reported in another thread that I think affects the qb conversation if you are not subscribed to that thread. TP or anyone else, I don't have a journalists "multiple sources" on this. Please comment if I am off target, (in other words, bought a load of goods from this guy.)

Cam led all rushers. And as someone pointed out to me last night, GAIII involuntarily takes a step sideways at the line and when he is meeting an opponent, while returning a kick-off. Takes away all advantage of his size and speed.

That was a hard hitting game last night. Everyone should feel good about it. I don't do well with who is better than whom, but that sounded like the hardest hitting game of the season to me.

It is a shame that kid from SC complained about the officiating being unfair to SC. From what this half-blind, entirely stupid observer could see, SC's offense committed a penalty almost every play against our front, and the beginning of the game was at least as partially officiated as the NC game last January! It is doubly bad because those kids on both sides of the ball played their hearts out all night.

The guys behind us at the game thought I was a Voodo priest or something. Just as soon as I commented there was no Crazy Train, they played it, and then I said something to the effect that they would probably play it three times in a row. Which they did, (maybe four). But it was interesting how they used it to ramp up the stadium noise before a USC play, and then would just cut it out before the ball was snapped! The crowd caught on and went nuts. I don't think that was very helpful for USC.

 

[NCDomer]

BS. No quarterback at the college level is Peyton Manning. I would even say Peyton Manning wasn't even Peyton Manning at the college level, maybe his Senior year. It was a conscious effort to become a film guru, improve himself and those around him, and a drive to become the best that made him what he is today. It didn't hurt that he was Archie's son either.

It's not necessarily about Hendrix's play and giving Tommy a pass. It's about the fact that he IS the guy that is going to lead this team this year. He's playing better this year than you're giving him credit for, and it's not like all the teams we've played have been cupcakes up to this point. There is no Brady Quinn, or Joe Theisman on this roster right now. Tommy is it, and if we can't accept his strengths along with his weaknesses, then theres no hope for the rest of the season and the outside chance we have of hitting a BCS game is lost.

You're missing the point with the Peyton analogy. How many other QBs do you see checking as much as Rees a la Peyton? No one comes close who I'm aware of. Then, consider that pre-snap reads are Rees' best skill, as is arguably Peyton's as well. As such, Rees seems to model his play on Peyton, which is admirable. Unfortunately, this leads Rees into checking a ton of plays and overthinking what are probably great pre-snap reads. His checking plays turns his otherwise great read into a chess match that D coordinators beat him on thereby eliminating Rees' best asset and turning it against him. Rees' best approach would be to make the pre-snap read and execute the called play accordingly. He seems to have the most success when that happens (ie, when he doesn't check).

Secondly, I'm not being overly harsh on Rees. Rees is playing as a senior, but about as well as he was back in 2011 as a sophomore. You'd expect improvement. His most notable improvement seems to be that he recognizes defensive weaknesses and progresses beyond his first target, yet he's breaking down mechanically more often this year leading to errant passes. This largely explains the better YPA and fewer INTs (ints this year come more from his errant passes than telegraphing or forcing throws to his first target like they did in 2011), yet lower completion percentage.

Additionally, I simply think Rees could execute better than he has this year. You expect that from seniors. Sure, I bitch about Rees' weak arm, but unlike most Rees bashers, I actually think Rees can play at a championship/BCS level. It all comes down to him not overthinking/checking plays and executing better mechanically. These are things he can do. Everyone calls him a mid-major caliber QB, and I expect him to play like the physically-limited upper echelon mid-major QBs. He's shown he can do that this year at times.

Lastly, when I call for Kelly to pull Rees, I'm asking for it to get Rees back in the game mentally. Kelly pulled Golson last year when he hit mental walls. I think Rees needs it at times because the D coordinator starts gaming him with the checks/audibles. The D coordinator should win those battles because Rees isn't Peyton. More importantly, no one is asking Rees to be Peyton nor does this team need him to be Peyton to play at a BCS level.

 

[ulukinatme]

You're missing the point with the Peyton analogy. How many other QBs do you see checking as much as Rees a la Peyton? No one comes close who I'm aware of. Then, consider that pre-snap reads are Rees' best skill, as is arguably Peyton's as well. As such, Rees seems to model his play on Peyton, which is admirable. Unfortunately, this leads Rees into checking a ton of plays and overthinking what are probably great pre-snap reads. His checking plays turns his otherwise great read into a chess match that D coordinators beat him on thereby eliminating Rees' best asset and turning it against him. Rees' best approach would be to make the pre-snap read and execute the called play accordingly. He seems to have the most success when that happens (ie, when he doesn't check).

Secondly, I'm not being overly harsh on Rees. Rees is playing as a senior, but about as well as he was back in 2011 as a sophomore. You'd expect improvement. His most notable improvement seems to be that he recognizes defensive weaknesses and progresses beyond his first target, yet he's breaking down mechanically more often this year leading to errant passes. This largely explains the better YPA and fewer INTs (ints this year come more from his errant passes than telegraphing or forcing throws to his first target like they did in 2011), yet lower completion percentage.

Additionally, I simply think Rees could execute better than he has this year. You expect that from seniors. Sure, I bitch about Rees' weak arm, but unlike most Rees bashers, I actually think Rees can play at a championship/BCS level. It all comes down to him not overthinking/checking plays and executing better mechanically. These are things he can do. Everyone calls him a mid-major caliber QB, and I expect him to play like the physically-limited upper echelon mid-major QBs. He's shown he can do that this year at times.

Lastly, when I call for Kelly to pull Rees, I'm asking for it to get Rees back in the game mentally. Kelly pulled Golson last year when he hit mental walls. I think Rees needs it at times because the D coordinator starts gaming him with the checks/audibles. The D coordinator should win those battles because Rees isn't Peyton. More importantly, no one is asking Rees to be Peyton nor does this team need him to be Peyton to play at a BCS level.

Maybe he does check the play at the line quite a bit, but do you think that's just something he's decided to do on his own, or is he following instructions/guidance from his coaches? I'm guessing he didn't just decide "Hey, I'm going to check whenever I feel like it." They probably tell him "You see this alignment, do this. You see an overload blitz on the weak side, check to this." Rees doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that repeatedly does things every game that his coaches don't want him to do.

Rees is playing much better as a Senior than he was as a Sophomore. He's had 6 INTs in 7 games, and some of those were not his fault (Missed block on one of the Oklahoma INTs, and one or two tipped passes). Tommy also had a tendency to lock in on his receivers, and certainly certain receivers more than others (Eifert/Floyd). Tommy spreads the ball to more guys this year than he did in previous years. TJ is probably his favorite target, but he'll go to DD, Troy, or any of the freshmen. He's also putting the ball in better position for his receivers than he did previously. More than before, he's putting the ball where his guy can get it and not in a position where it can get picked off. The fewer INTs has shown this, but so has our gameplan against teams like Michigan State that forced us to throw the ball outside and Tommy overthrew the receiver as oppose to throwing it under. Yeah, it would be nice if there were some more completions. Some of our RBs have struggled to catch the ball this year though, and TJ has admitted in some games that guys have run the wrong routes.

I will agree that maybe there have been a few games where Kelly could have pulled Rees to help him get his head in the game. Maybe Tommy isn't that kind of player though, we don't know. Maybe Kelly really, really didn't want to put Hendrix on the field unless Tommy was physically unable to, aside from the designed packages against Oklahoma that we tried out.

 

[pkt77242]

You're missing the point with the Peyton analogy. How many other QBs do you see checking as much as Rees a la Peyton? No one comes close who I'm aware of. Then, consider that pre-snap reads are Rees' best skill, as is arguably Peyton's as well. As such, Rees seems to model his play on Peyton, which is admirable. Unfortunately, this leads Rees into checking a ton of plays and overthinking what are probably great pre-snap reads. His checking plays turns his otherwise great read into a chess match that D coordinators beat him on thereby eliminating Rees' best asset and turning it against him. Rees' best approach would be to make the pre-snap read and execute the called play accordingly. He seems to have the most success when that happens (ie, when he doesn't check).

Secondly, I'm not being overly harsh on Rees. Rees is playing as a senior, but about as well as he was back in 2011 as a sophomore. You'd expect improvement. His most notable improvement seems to be that he recognizes defensive weaknesses and progresses beyond his first target, yet he's breaking down mechanically more often this year leading to errant passes. This largely explains the better YPA and fewer INTs (ints this year come more from his errant passes than telegraphing or forcing throws to his first target like they did in 2011), yet lower completion percentage.

Additionally, I simply think Rees could execute better than he has this year. You expect that from seniors. Sure, I bitch about Rees' weak arm, but unlike most Rees bashers, I actually think Rees can play at a championship/BCS level. It all comes down to him not overthinking/checking plays and executing better mechanically. These are things he can do. Everyone calls him a mid-major caliber QB, and I expect him to play like the physically-limited upper echelon mid-major QBs. He's shown he can do that this year at times.

Lastly, when I call for Kelly to pull Rees, I'm asking for it to get Rees back in the game mentally. Kelly pulled Golson last year when he hit mental walls. I think Rees needs it at times because the D coordinator starts gaming him with the checks/audibles. The D coordinator should win those battles because Rees isn't Peyton. More importantly, no one is asking Rees to be Peyton nor does this team need him to be Peyton to play at a BCS level.

Most of the time Rees isn't changing the play he is making the line calls. Last year Cave handled it but this year Kelly has had Rees doing them. So while Rees does change the call sometimes, most of the time it is the line calls that he is barking out.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Didn't we win?

 

[koonja]

Hendrix makes Crist look like Andrew Luck. How can you be talented enough to get a scholarship to ND to play QB, have to good fortune of having the same head coach and system for all 4 years, and still look like that? I know he's a smart kid, but some people can't handle the nerves.

We need Tommy. He looked really good last night.

And we need to blow out a couple of teams so this team can evolve. We need to get Folston/Redfield/Butler/Luke/Rochell/Elmer, etc reps, but especially Hendrix.

We will need Hendrix again this year I have a feeling.

 

[palinurus]

But don't you feel they should be spending every waking moment preparing him for what happened last night? I knew Hendrix would be expected to take over if Tommy was hurt, you knew it, why didn't the coaches and Hendrix know it? He looked like they awoke him from a nap.

This is true. I have no explanation other than that he got off to a bad start and seemed like he bled confidence he never got back.