Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[irishff1014]

Why can’t we just play UNC every week?

Imagine if we called games like this against Marshal and Cal? Yikes

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I’m fine with Rees the play caller.

I need to see significant improvements in Rees the recruiter and QB developer. That’s the reason I could see Freeman moving on from this this winter.

As far as developer, let's see what Pyne's trajectory looks like from here on out. That is going to count for something. He looked very settled at UNC compared to Cal.

The recruiter has until February to get someone into the fold for this class.

 

[arrowryan]

As far as developer, let's see what Pyne's trajectory looks like from here on out. That is going to count for something. He looked very settled at UNC compared to Cal.

The recruiter has until February to get someone into the fold for this class.

He’s had 5ish years to develop and get players in this offense. The QB room is in the state it’s in because of Rees. He has some responsibility why this offense lacks playmakers on the perimeter.

His game plan for UNC was outstanding and was executed almost perfectly. But he’s far from being in the clear, in my opinion.

 

[irishff1014]

He’s had 5ish years to develop and get players in this offense. The QB room is in the state it’s in because of Rees. He has some responsibility why this offense lacks playmakers on the perimeter.

His game plan for UNC was outstanding and was executed almost perfectly. But he’s far from being in the clear, in my opinion.

I’ll second this.

 

[ulukinatme]

He’s had 5ish years to develop and get players in this offense. The QB room is in the state it’s in because of Rees. He has some responsibility why this offense lacks playmakers on the perimeter.

His game plan for UNC was outstanding and was executed almost perfectly. But he’s far from being in the clear, in my opinion.

He's had two years and he's in his 3rd as OC. His first class is comprised of half our Sophomore starters on offense right now. He does own the QB room, but he doesn't control transfers directly nor injuries. Phil should have been a big time guy, didn't pan out. Buchner still remains to be seen, but he was rated very well. He's got a great relationship and has Carr on board right now, his first big fish since BK departed. That's not awful recruiting on paper, even Pyne wasn't exactly a dud.

Has he been pulling in top tier QB talent each year like tOSU? No, but when was the last time we had a QB do something noteworthy in the NFL? We've not been a destination for QB talent for awhile, not since Weis and even then Quinn and Clausen didn't really pan out (I'm convinced Quinn got ruined by my Browns though). We're lucky if we land a guy like Carr because we probably don't deserve him just yet. Maybe once things turn around and we can win some big games with the talent coming in now. I feel like the expectations have been irrational given our QB situation under BK, but Freeman seems to be going after big fish and we can only hope things are moving in a positive direction.

 

[ulukinatme]

If Styles constitutes successful, why are we complaining about Merriweather? Styles didn’t see real PT till week 8, and after the bye.

I don’t think anyone will disagree with the premise we want guys to pan out and play well. The implication made was Merriweather is gonna transfer though.

Everything else here some components have truth sure, but they are more the worries of a ND fan, not legitimate demons we can put out on the trail. Neg recruiting will exist whether you’re good bad or in between. It’s whack a mole.

There just seems to be a strong push for Merriweather to see the field, likely since our other WRs just haven't shown up outside of Styles. There's a growing concern he might transfer out seeing the other talent (Or lack thereof) we're putting on the field right now. The Cinci game last year certainly outlined our WR deficiencies, which prompted us to start using Styles and Colzie more after the BYE. Those extra freshmen reps helped push Austin and Lenzy to step up a bit too. I think Lenzy needs that nudge again if he's seriously going to be out there with the starting offense.

I'm confident he'll start seeing the field more after this BYE, much like Styles and Colzie did last year. Hopefully he has a better grasp of things and doesn't get Drew blown up again on a busted play. We just need some fresh guys out there that will execute and keep defenses honest.

 

[Dale]

growing concern he might transfer out seeing the other talent

Growing concern amongst whom?

 

[ulukinatme]

Growing concern amongst whom?

Fans on social media mostly, but the Irish recruiting Twitter heads have been getting in on it too.

 

[irishff1014]

He's had two years and he's in his 3rd as OC. His first class is comprised of half our Sophomore starters on offense right now. He does own the QB room, but he doesn't control transfers directly nor injuries. Phil should have been a big time guy, didn't pan out. Buchner still remains to be seen, but he was rated very well. He's got a great relationship and has Carr on board right now, his first big fish since BK departed. That's not awful recruiting on paper, even Pyne wasn't exactly a dud.

Has he been pulling in top tier QB talent each year like tOSU? No, but when was the last time we had a QB do something noteworthy in the NFL? We've not been a destination for QB talent for awhile, not since Weis and even then Quinn and Clausen didn't really pan out (I'm convinced Quinn got ruined by my Browns though). We're lucky if we land a guy like Carr because we probably don't deserve him just yet. Maybe once things turn around and we can win some big games with the talent coming in now. I feel like the expectations have been irrational given our QB situation under BK, but Freeman seems to be going after big fish and we can only hope things are moving in a positive direction.

He was the QB coach before than and not much better.

 

[Dale]

Fans on social media mostly, but the Irish recruiting Twitter heads have been getting in on it too.

Okay so no one haha. Unless the coaching staff or someone of substance has growing concern Merriweather is going to transfer, I feel like we’re getting miles ahead of ourselves, and invoking Jordan Johnson’s transfer wasn’t a good point, which was where this started.

 

[ulukinatme]

He was the QB coach before than and not much better.

Were our QBs unprepared or unable to win us games before?

 

[NDRock]

He's had two years and he's in his 3rd as OC. His first class is comprised of half our Sophomore starters on offense right now. He does own the QB room, but he doesn't control transfers directly nor injuries. Phil should have been a big time guy, didn't pan out. Buchner still remains to be seen, but he was rated very well. He's got a great relationship and has Carr on board right now, his first big fish since BK departed. That's not awful recruiting on paper, even Pyne wasn't exactly a dud.

Has he been pulling in top tier QB talent each year like tOSU? No, but when was the last time we had a QB do something noteworthy in the NFL? We've not been a destination for QB talent for awhile, not since Weis and even then Quinn and Clausen didn't really pan out (I'm convinced Quinn got ruined by my Browns though). We're lucky if we land a guy like Carr because we probably don't deserve him just yet. Maybe once things turn around and we can win some big games with the talent coming in now. I feel like the expectations have been irrational given our QB situation under BK, but Freeman seems to be going after big fish and we can only hope things are moving in a positive direction.

So if you give Rees credit for the offensive recruiting in ‘21, is it also his fault we only landed one WR last year?

 

[BilboBaggins]

Don’t mean to argue with u here, but the counter is designed to be used against aggressive defenses that are shooting gaps and trying to move towards where the play is heading. The counter takes advantage of that by essentially faking in one direction and going in the other.

I know what you mean but with that play in particular the entire OL needs to execute to not get blown up. One guy getting penetration against an IOL and the pulling OL isn't getting to his destination and the RB is getting stuff on that slow developing play.

A lot of people have been criticizing the slow developing run plays that ND uses. That play is an example of one IMO just looks better against UNC

 

[BilboBaggins]

BYU's OFEI is 4th (!) nationally right now, but their DFEI is 83rd, which is not much better than UNC's.

The biggest difference is likely going to be BYU's OL. ALY stats don't get released until after week 4, but based on their rankings from last year and their returning production, this is a very solid OL which we won't be able to bully like the Tar Heels. We could easily score as much or more in Vegas, but our defense is going to have to be better to keep the Cougars offense in check.

Wow. I hadn't looked at BYU yet, I assumed they were scrappy gym rat types who played disciplined defense. Good to know.

 

[Armyirish47]

Wow. I hadn't looked at BYU yet, I assumed they were scrappy gym rat types who played disciplined defense. Good to know.

This year they went with 24 year old neckbeards desperate for a coffee and a lass with magic inside that denim. Just not the same.

 

[irishff1014]

Were our QBs unprepared or unable to win us games before?

Other than Book we haven't had a QB make progress or show signs of life. And he didn't recruit him. I will admit that we have to give Rees some credit for Book but Book also had a fighter mentality. So he probably does good where ever he went.

We are going to disagree. You can think of Rees as the next coming greatness and i won't.

 

[ulukinatme]

So if you give Rees credit for the offensive recruiting in ‘21, is it also his fault we only landed one WR last year?

I blame Del mostly, but Rees and/or BK share in the blame. I don't know who's idea it was to quit recruiting WRs when the flips were happening. When it comes to ND I don't think you can have too many WRs. It arguably one of the positions we've recruited the worst under BK's reign. It looks like that's hopefully changing under Freeman's recruiting push, so I'm gonna say that was more on BK being lazy since Rees is still here and recruiting is up on the offensive side of the ball. Right now we've got two Top 20 ranked WRs on board for next year and one just outside the Top 20 in Flores. That never happened under BK, not even close.

 

[ulukinatme]

Other than Book we haven't had a QB make progress or show signs of life. And he didn't recruit him. I will admit that we have to give Rees some credit for Book but Book also had a fighter mentality. So he probably does good where ever he went.

We are going to disagree. You can think of Rees as the next coming greatness and i won't.

To be fair, Book was QB for 3 of the 5 previous years and was pretty good during that time, winning us a lot of games. Last year it was Coan who certainly looked better prepared than his predecessor at Wisconsin, Mertz. The only other year was the 2017 Wimbush experiment and he clearly was just not an accurate passer. He rightly got benched for Book.

I don't think he's the next coming, but he has become something of a scapegoat even going back to his playing days. I also think he doesn't get due credit when we do have success. I think we clearly have a well coached team, and sometimes player execution is the issue. Look how the offense has turned around since Rees got in Pyne's ear and told him to "Do your f***ing job!" That phone call very well could have saved our season if the team continues to get better from here on out. Clearly the players had the gameplan and tools to win prior to that moment, they just had to relax and do their jobs and the rest started falling into place.

The question remains why these lesser regarded recruits seem to excel better as ND QBs over more athletic guys. Do the athletes struggle with the mental side of the game? Has Rees'/BK's offense been too heady for some guys? Are we just cursed to start lesser athletic QBs? I don't know the answer, but I hope Carr is it. He's tight with Rees and could change things for the program. I hope Tommy sticks around long enough to reap the benefits of this enhanced recruiting, but the general feeling is he's just sticking around short term for the boys after the BK exit.

 

[irishff1014]

To be fair, Book was QB for 3 of the 5 previous years and was pretty good during that time, winning us a lot of games. Last year it was Coan who certainly looked better prepared than his predecessor at Wisconsin, Mertz. The only other year was the 2017 Wimbush experiment and he clearly was just not an accurate passer. He rightly got benched for Book.

I don't think he's the next coming, but he has become something of a scapegoat even going back to his playing days. I also think he doesn't get due credit when we do have success. I think we clearly have a well coached team, and sometimes player execution is the issue. Look how the offense has turned around since Rees got in Pyne's ear and told him to "Do your f***ing job!" That phone call very well could have saved our season if the team continues to get better from here on out. Clearly the players had the gameplan and tools to win prior to that moment, they just had to relax and do their jobs and the rest started falling into place.

The question remains why these lesser regarded recruits seem to excel better as ND QBs over more athletic guys. Do the athletes struggle with the mental side of the game? Has Rees'/BK's offense been too heady for some guys? Are we just cursed to start lesser athletic QBs? I don't know the answer, but I hope Carr is it. He's tight with Rees and could change things for the program. I hope Tommy sticks around long enough to reap the benefits of this enhanced recruiting, but the general feeling is he's just sticking around short term for the boys after the BK exit.

If you really believe that then you are crazy. Did it help yes. But look how much better the O line has played since then. Look at how the play calling has changed. And again in 2 years it take multiple games for the offense to get rolling. We have seen what he can do. NEXT! That's my opinion if you don't like it i don't care.

 

[ulukinatme]

If you really believe that then you are crazy. Did it help yes. But look how much better the O line has played since then. Look at how the play calling has changed. And again in 2 years it take multiple games for the offense to get rolling. We have seen what he can do. NEXT! That's my opinion if you don't like it i don't care.

Was there another moment in that game that galvanized our players, where things suddenly turned around and we started scoring points? Pyne's execution and the offense as a whole dramatically changed after that phone call. You think it's just a coincidence? It took 6 quarters this year for the Harry and the OL to gel. Last year it took 6 whole games and a BYE. That's a big difference, and in both seasons the OL was the main reason we were failing to execute. Show me an OC that can be extremely successful when their OL is struggling. There's not many. Everything starts in the trenches. If your QB has pressure up the middle immediately after the snap or your OL can't get a yard against Marshall in multiple attempts you're not going to be running any kind of successful offense.

 

[Irishdrunk]

I understand people who might disagree, but I still think the jury is out on Buchner. Unfortunately, his learning curve is that much steeper with this injury, and he has a much more difficult road moving forward. My biggest issue with Rees this season is how he used Buchner in the first two games, particularly the Marshall game. That was a colossal f-up. And a lot of that came down to play calling more than personnel. Yes, the O-Line was terrible, but the schemes drawn up for Buchner did not maximize his strengths.

Rees has talent and potential, but his stay here has either worn on fans or provided just enough of a glimpse of what he is capable of to keep others wondering if he can put it all together. It seems to be a polarizing situation. My hope is he helps this team win more games than expected, so that the ultimate evaluation is difficult at the end of the season. That would be a good scenario for us Irish fans, IMO.

The lesson learned from this season is they should have taken a Transfer. A program like ND needs three experienced QBs ready to fight for the starting job-

 

[ulukinatme]

The lesson learned from this season is they should have taken a Transfer. A program like ND needs three experienced QBs ready to fight for the starting job-

Yeah, you really need one QB in every class, especially if your starter is a mobile dual threat. There's always a strong possibility that guy goes down for at least a game or ten. We lost Clark to transfer, even if he wasn't a big time guy he would have had time in the system. Freeman said they felt good about the QBs we had on roster which is why they didn't pursue a transfer, but we really should have had another backup option for Buchner. Here's hoping that Pyne stays healthy and continues to build on the last two games.

 

[stlnd01]

I think if there's one thing on which everyone can agree in the now-12-year-running argument over Why Tommy Rees Sucks it is that we should have taken a grad transfer this year.

 

[indianamouse]

Was there another moment in that game that galvanized our players, where things suddenly turned around and we started scoring points? Pyne's execution and the offense as a whole dramatically changed after that phone call. You think it's just a coincidence? It took 6 quarters this year for the Harry and the OL to gel. Last year it took 6 whole games and a BYE. That's a big difference, and in both seasons the OL was the main reason we were failing to execute. Show me an OC that can be extremely successful when their OL is struggling. There's not many. Everything starts in the trenches. If your QB has pressure up the middle immediately after the snap or your OL can't get a yard against Marshall in multiple attempts you're not going to be running any kind of successful offense.

UNC

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

BYU's D Line might have some trouble with this new version of the ND OL. Whatever happened at halftime of the Cal game, it worked.

Zeke Correll looks like a different human being these last six quarters.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

UNC

This is only partially correct and you either know it or didn't think hard about it before posting. They've given up 3 sacks in each of their last 3 games and rushed for 200 or close to 200 yards in every game except ND where they were stuffed for 60-70. UNC OL hasn't been terrible and they've had a good run game until they ran into the Irish.

That makes calling plays much easier. Watch what happens when they run into other good defenses, they won't put up nearly the same points. and their QB could be special. Wish we could get him to transfer.

 

[Dale]

when they run into other good defenses, they won't put up nearly the same points.

EDIT: I misread and was thinking of it flipped, NVM

 

[Dale]

Rees pressers don’t hit the same anymore

 

[ulukinatme]

Fuck "Burn the boats."
"Do your fucking job" is our mantra now.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Fuck "Burn the boats."
"Do your fucking job" is our mantra now.

It's a good one! I've suggested to my wife several times that we paint that on a wall in a big block letters.