Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[NDdomer2]

OK, so do you have a response to my post or do you want to just post random things about how Tommy is better than Parker?

Your posts are always in this tone like Rees was run off. We wanted him back and were letting him build the offense in his image. Then he left us, at a really bad time.

I don't think he was run off but weren't there definitely reports that their working relationship was heading in a bad direction?

 

[greyhammer90]

I don't think he was run off but weren't there definitely reports that their working relationship was heading in a bad direction?

Citation needed. He had just gotten his transfer QB, Carr was committed, and everyone was largely excited to see his offense run with a good QB

 

[NDdomer2]

Citation needed. He had just gotten his transfer QB, Carr was committed, and everyone was largely excited to see his offense run with a good QB

Chance to work for Saban vs chance to be scapegoat at ND?

I'm not saying he didn't bail but I don't think anyone's saying he made the wrong choice either.

 

[NDFAN2008]

I mean are people giving Rees too much credit? It’s easy to succeed when you got a bunch of 5 star guys and even more sitting on the bench

 

[NDdomer2]

The tommy shit is wild around here

 

[T Town Tommy]

I think it's a little unfair to compare Tommy at Bama vs Tommy at Notre Dame. He's working for who might be the greatest coach ever in CFB and had a cast of players that were better than what he had at Notre Dame. Still, Tommy had to perform. And I think he did as the season went along.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Our offenses also got better as the season went on in 2021 and 2022. This year it got worse (at least against quality opponents).

IDK about thekid's hyptothetical with Rees as HC (I don't think we'd have recruited as well the last two cycles), but if Tommy's our OC this year we win at least one (Clemson) and probably two more games.

Agreed. Tommy is a good play caller and his poorly timed defection affected ND’s OC search but that’s what happens when it involves the NFL schedule. I’m still in awe of what Tommy did w/ Drew Pyne at QB last season. But he still laid an egg when it came to calling the offense vs Stanford & his biggest mistake was convincing MF that they didn’t need a portal QB. So he has some growing to do but that should come faster under Saban.

 

[pumpdog20]

Every point you made was wrong in that statement
ND never had 25 PPG offenses under Rees
2020: 33.4 PPG
2021: 35.2 PPG
2022: 31.8 PPG

Yeah, Parker has 39 PPG this year. It's easy to rack up points on cupcakes and an FCS team, especially when you've got a talented roster with a lot of starts under their belt. Parker's only win against a team that finished ranked is NC State. It's also easy inflating your PPG when your defense is scoring left and right against teams like USC and PItt, or giving you the ball in the opponent's territory lol.

This reads like Rees never got the opportunity to rack up points against scrubs. 2023 had a lot more top teams on it then those three in my opinion.

But yeah, I'd still take Rees over Parker.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

I think it's a little unfair to compare Tommy at Bama vs Tommy at Notre Dame. He's working for who might be the greatest coach ever in CFB and had a cast of players that were better than what he had at Notre Dame. Still, Tommy had to perform. And I think he did as the season went along.

Yes. Bama fans were admitting they were wrong last night & tweeting him “congrats” and “sorry we didn’t buy in earlier”. He’s in as good a spot as he can be in. Should be better next season.

 

[IrishLax]

An alternative universe where Tommy becomes the HC after BK would be interesting. Obviously, it's totally impossible to know what would have happened, especially on defense.

I think it's safe to say last season would have played out basically the same, since he was still here and running the offense.

This year, if we assume the defense is still as good in the alternate universe, we absolutely win the Ohio St and Clemson games. I suspect the Louisville game as well, but I think a lot of that lose was on the team being physically and mentally drained by that point due to the schedule, so maybe it would still be a loss.

What are the odds that Freeman is gone in ~2 years and ND hires "Alabama Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees"?

 

[T Town Tommy]

Yes. Bama fans were admitting they were wrong last night & tweeting him “congrats” and “sorry we didn’t buy in earlier”. He’s in as good a spot as he can be in. Should be better next season.

He also has more off the field resources to work with. The TD drive to go up by 10 and then the last drive to kill the clock were tremendous. But that's not all Tommy's doing either. As Saban said in his press conference, there were great plays made when they needed to be made. That's a lot of people, including Tommy, being prepared and ready to make the calls and the plays when needed.

 

[ab2cmiller]

All I need to know is….. does Tommy believe that you should never run play action against man-heavy defenses?

 

[IRISHDODGER]

What are the odds that Freeman is gone in ~2 years and ND hires "Alabama Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees"?

IMO…low. I continue to believe Rees is grasping for the brass ring that lies in the NFL. Maybe if he gets his chance there & doesn’t find the success he hoped for, he’d consider ND again. In today’s CFB, you cannot be indifferent to recruiting & Tommy reportedly has disdain for it. Not only are you recruiting HS kids from their sophomore year through signing day…you have to recruit your current players & then portal players. My guess is Tommy wants no part of that. Just let him learn under the master while making some obligatory recruiting trips while Saban & his band of elite recruiters do all the heavy lifting.

 

[greyhammer90]

Chance to work for Saban vs chance to be scapegoat at ND?

I'm not saying he didn't bail but I don't think anyone's saying he made the wrong choice either.

You're arguing against a viewpoint I never endorsed. Again, I'm really only talking about this retroactive thing where we're acting like ND or its fans were "unfair" to Tommy. Tommy recieved an unprecedented level of support from the administration for (if you look only at stats) a merely OK OC. The AD came out and said that Tommy needed to be on board with the hire of the HC. That's a lot of soft power for a 30 year old assistant coach. Meanwhile the fanbase was largely more than fair, and even now are defending him against even mild criticism. See: this thread.

I just get really annoyed by the twisting of the narrative by some fans, the Golics, and Tommy's other friends. They act like ND left Tommy, or that Tommy was never appreciated enough. We were apparently supposed to kiss his feet when his offense scored 14 net points against Marshall, and 14 points against Stanford. The more it goes on, the more I don't think they'd be happy unless he had been made HC. He was given as much support as the University reasonably could have given him, and then he left for greener pastures. Now that he's doing well, it's not enough that we're not allowed to criticize him for leaving us in a lurch (bEcAuSe ItS sAbAn), but we're also supposed to self-flagellate for our sin of ever doubting him.

 

[drayer54]

Chance to work for Saban vs chance to be scapegoat at ND?

I'm not saying he didn't bail but I don't think anyone's saying he made the wrong choice either.

I never faulted Tommy for taking the OC job at Bama. I would have thought him dumb for turning that down. He had a chance to work with arguably the best college football coach ever—someone with the best coaching tree since Hayden Fry. I never blamed him and, for the first year ever- wished Alabama well to see an ND man, and a good man at that, be successful.

Had he taken the LSU job, I would have been upset. Bama with Saban? Go do awesome.

 

[thekid33]

What are the odds that Freeman is gone in ~2 years and ND hires "Alabama Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees"?

Low. If Freeman is gone soon I can't imagine them giving the job to somebody else without HC experience.

 

[Giddyup]

Nobody appreciated Tommy on IE. That’s why I think Parker might still be good in yr 2. Would still like a co-OC.

 

[ThePiombino]

Hallmark of a good coach, his unit got better as the season went on. Peaking at the right time.

Don't forget: showed up against not just tough, but elite defense.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[ThePiombino]

What are the odds that Freeman is gone in ~2 years and ND hires "Alabama Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees"?

I'd be shocked if Tommy isn't in the NFL in 2 years.

Sent from my Pixel 8 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[NDdomer2]

You're arguing against a viewpoint I never endorsed. Again, I'm really only talking about this retroactive thing where we're acting like ND or its fans were "unfair" to Tommy. Tommy recieved an unprecedented level of support from the administration for (if you look only at stats) a merely OK OC. The AD came out and said that Tommy needed to be on board with the hire of the HC. That's a lot of soft power for a 30 year old assistant coach. Meanwhile the fanbase was largely more than fair, and even now are defending him against even mild criticism. See: this thread.

I just get really annoyed by the twisting of the narrative by some fans, the Golics, and Tommy's other friends. They act like ND left Tommy, or that Tommy was never appreciated enough. We were apparently supposed to kiss his feet when his offense scored 14 net points against Marshall, and 14 points against Stanford. The more it goes on, the more I don't think they'd be happy unless he had been made HC. He was given as much support as the University reasonably could have given him, and then he left for greener pastures. Now that he's doing well, it's not enough that we're not allowed to criticize him for leaving us in a lurch (bEcAuSe ItS sAbAn), but we're also supposed to self-flagellate for our sin of ever doubting him.

I do think he received a lot of unwarranted hate because of his time as a player that he wouldn't have got at any other p5 school just because he played here and because he had a previous relationship with BK. He wasn't and will never be evaluated singularly as a coordinator. Right or wrong.

The other thing that is double standard is that all of the offenses issues were solely tommy. The stats, the QBs, the wrs, you name it. However any issue under Freeman is because of previous coaches. BK, tommy, Del. How aren't some of those issues during Tommy's time as OC because of BK, or Chip or Del.

I don't know the right answer, just making observations.

From my perspective, last years offense with Pyne was absolutely maximized. Both Tommy and Parker were dealt some hands that weren't perfect. I know which one I would have rather been dealt, which one had a better supporting defense, and we ended with the same record.

I mean talking about twisted narratives, I literally read yesterday that Parker is better than Tommy because Mitchell Evans had a halfway decent season. Dafuq!?!

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Give em hell, Tom!! Fuck Michigan!

 

[Grahambo]

What are the odds that Freeman is gone in ~2 years and ND hires "Alabama Offensive Coordinator Tommy Rees"?

Probably will read ND hires NFL offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

 

[ulukinatme]

You're arguing against a viewpoint I never endorsed. Again, I'm really only talking about this retroactive thing where we're acting like ND or its fans were "unfair" to Tommy. Tommy recieved an unprecedented level of support from the administration for (if you look only at stats) a merely OK OC. The AD came out and said that Tommy needed to be on board with the hire of the HC. That's a lot of soft power for a 30 year old assistant coach. Meanwhile the fanbase was largely more than fair, and even now are defending him against even mild criticism. See: this thread.

I just get really annoyed by the twisting of the narrative by some fans, the Golics, and Tommy's other friends. They act like ND left Tommy, or that Tommy was never appreciated enough. We were apparently supposed to kiss his feet when his offense scored 14 net points against Marshall, and 14 points against Stanford. The more it goes on, the more I don't think they'd be happy unless he had been made HC. He was given as much support as the University reasonably could have given him, and then he left for greener pastures. Now that he's doing well, it's not enough that we're not allowed to criticize him for leaving us in a lurch (bEcAuSe ItS sAbAn), but we're also supposed to self-flagellate for our sin of ever doubting him.

Largely more than fair? What player or coach has received more vitriol from the fanbase in the last 15 years? Death threats? We weren't always pretty, but Rees didn't step into a great situation either. All the Junior stars we saw shine this year were from his first recruiting class, players that had to see significant playing time or start in 2021 because of holes BK and Long left. It wasn't by design that 9 freshmen saw significant playing time that year, quite a few of them seeing starting time. There were growing pains for a few years with such a young offense, but it was all culminating to this season when those players would be experienced and talented starters. It's why recruiting is so important, you can't get lazy for the 2019 and 2020 classes and then expect in two years you'll magically be a playoff team when your previous upperclassmen graduate or get drafted. We saw the same thing under Weis in 2007, that season was a culmination of Willingham's awful recruiting catching up to us. You're not going to be effective having to run so many underclassmen. You've got Merriweather failing to go in motion because he has a mental mistake, and then Drew Pyne has to eat the ball on a busted play. That's stuff that kills drives, things you have to endure with a young team.

This was set to be our year, and Parker dropped the ball in the games that mattered most. We managed to score less points against OSU this year at home and with Hartman at QB, Estime in peak form, better receivers, etc. 6 straight failed drives to close out the Clemson game, a team we embarrassed last year with Pyne throwing only 85 yards because we were running all over them for 263 yards. We scored 1 TD against Louisville aside from a late garbage time score, a team that Pittsburgh hung 38 on. None of those games came down to a lack of talent or experience, because our team had the edge over all three opponents with the exception of OSU's receivers which weren't as big factor as they should have been. Coaching is why we lost those games.

I don't think Tommy was the greatest OC we've ever seen, not even close. I've got a problem with Tommy being a scapegoat for everything, that's why I push back. For some fans he's to blame when things go wrong, and never any credit due when things go well. Those same fans were the ones that wanted him out to begin with, and laughed at Alabama in September. Now they're in the playoff and ended Georgia's winning streak, and Milroe was in the Heisman discussion. They got better as the year went on, which is typically what we saw from his offenses here as well. We didn't see that this season. We looked great in the first 4, then dropped 3 of the next 8 and it probably should have been 4 of 8 if not for Hartman and Estime heroics against Duke.

 

[T-Boone]

Low. If Freeman is gone soon I can't imagine them giving the job to somebody else without HC experience.

They would be cheaper than someone experienced so maybe

 

[thekid33]

They would be cheaper than someone experienced so maybe

 

[ulukinatme]

OK, so do you have a response to my post or do you want to just post random things about how Tommy is better than Parker?

Your posts are always in this tone like Rees was run off. We wanted him back and were letting him build the offense in his image. Then he left us, at a really bad time.

What do you want from me? Did I not explain that he was making lemonade out of lemons? Are you not aware why we had so many inexperienced freshmen and sophomores starting his last two seasons? Here's the 2019 offensive class that Long and BK put together by ranking:

Zeke Correll - Former starter, now transferring after getting replaced
Andrew Kristofic - Mostly career backup behind underclassmen
Quinn Carroll - Transferred
Kyren Williams - Star
Kendall Abdur-Rahman - Transferred
John Olmstead - Transferred
Brendan Clark - Transferred
Cam Hart - Moved to Defense

And 2020:
Michael Mayer - Star
Tosh Baker - Beat out by Alt when he was a freshman
Jordan Johnson - Transfer
Chris Tyree - Major contributor, transferring now
Michael Carmody - Beat out by underclassmen
Xavier Watts - Moved to Defense
Kevin Bauman - Injuries
Jay Brunelle - Transferred
Drew Pyne - Transferred

That's it. Out of two whole classes we had two decent contributors and two legit stars in Kyren and Mayer, with Kyren being gone for Rees' last year. The rest of those classes are either transferred, moved to defense, or have been more or less buried on the depth chart by younger players. How many OCs are incredibly successful with a platoon mostly filled with underclassmen? Why has Alabama been so successful? Aside from superb coaching, they never have more than a few underclassmen on any side of the line because they recruit well each year. There's rarely holes, although they did have one at QB this season which is why it took Milroe time to get acclimated. Upperclassmen should be the backbone of your team each year. We didn't have that for two straight years in 2021 and 2022 offensively. We're still feeling the effects of that at WR with the young group we have, and that's certainly on Del and Tommy for not having a backup plan when what's-his-face bolted and only Merriweather was left. You wanted to know why our offense struggled for a few years under Rees? That's the number one reason.

You say Tommy left us at a bad time. Maybe so, but only from the perspective that he was building something and didn't see it through to fruition. These Juniors were his first class, and the heart of the offense. While the jury is still out on some of his recent classes till they mature, I think you would agree that Tommy left Parker off far better than Long left him from a talent perspective. This team clearly had the talent and experience to be very successful based on the points we put on cupcakes. If you were in Rees' position and Saban came calling, knowing it would likely be a stepping stone to an NFL gig or P5 HC job...would you not take it to further your career? As fans we may say hell no, but realistically no man in his right mind doesn't take that opportunity.

He had the opportunity to go last season and stuck around. You talk about leaving at a bad time, now that would have been a bad time to go. Let's assume Parker takes over in 2022, because I seriously doubt any other OC wants to come in and coach a bunch of Sophomores last season. Do you think Parker somehow beats Marshall or Stanford with that 2022 team? Do you think he pulls Pyne's head out of his ass against Cal? Does he beat South Carolina, BYU, or even Navy? We were probably looking at a minimum 6 losses last season if Rees doesn't stick around another year.

 

[greyhammer90]

What do you want from me? Did I not explain that he was making lemonade out of lemons? Are you not aware why we had so many inexperienced freshmen and sophomores starting his last two seasons? Here's the 2019 offensive class that Long and BK put together by ranking:

Zeke Correll - Former starter, now transferring after getting replaced
Andrew Kristofic - Mostly career backup behind underclassmen
Quinn Carroll - Transferred
Kyren Williams - Star
Kendall Abdur-Rahman - Transferred
John Olmstead - Transferred
Brendan Clark - Transferred
Cam Hart - Moved to Defense

And 2020:
Michael Mayer - Star
Tosh Baker - Beat out by Alt when he was a freshman
Jordan Johnson - Transfer
Chris Tyree - Major contributor, transferring now
Michael Carmody - Beat out by underclassmen
Xavier Watts - Moved to Defense
Kevin Bauman - Injuries
Jay Brunelle - Transferred
Drew Pyne - Transferred

That's it. Out of two whole classes we had two decent contributors and two legit stars in Kyren and Mayer, with Kyren being gone for Rees' last year. The rest of those classes are either transferred, moved to defense, or have been more or less buried on the depth chart by younger players. How many OCs are incredibly successful with a platoon mostly filled with underclassmen? Why has Alabama been so successful? Aside from superb coaching, they never have more than a few underclassmen on any side of the line because they recruit well each year. There's rarely holes, although they did have one at QB this season which is why it took Milroe time to get acclimated. Upperclassmen should be the backbone of your team each year. We didn't have that for two straight years in 2021 and 2022 offensively. We're still feeling the effects of that at WR with the young group we have, and that's certainly on Del and Tommy for not having a backup plan when what's-his-face bolted and only Merriweather was left. You wanted to know why our offense struggled for a few years under Rees? That's the number one reason.

You say Tommy left us at a bad time. Maybe so, but only from the perspective that he was building something and didn't see it through to fruition. These Juniors were his first class, and the heart of the offense. While the jury is still out on some of his recent classes till they mature, I think you would agree that Tommy left Parker off far better than Long left him from a talent perspective. This team clearly had the talent and experience to be very successful based on the points we put on cupcakes. If you were in Rees' position and Saban came calling, knowing it would likely be a stepping stone to an NFL gig or P5 HC job...would you not take it to further your career? As fans we may say hell no, but realistically no man in his right mind doesn't take that opportunity.

He had the opportunity to go last season and stuck around. You talk about leaving at a bad time, now that would have been a bad time to go. Let's assume Parker takes over in 2022, because I seriously doubt any other OC wants to come in and coach a bunch of Sophomores last season. Do you think Parker somehow beats Marshall or Stanford with that 2022 team? Do you think he pulls Pyne's head out of his ass against Cal? Does he beat South Carolina, BYU, or even Navy? We were probably looking at a minimum 6 losses last season if Rees doesn't stick around another year.

Alright you're not responding to my point to the degree that I feel like you don't even understand my perspective. I'm going to assume you agree with me since you're not saying anything I really care about, and you can sleep well knowing that I thought Tommy was a good young OC that I was sorry to see go.

Tl;Dr, I have very little issue with Tommy, but I think he's a normal person and isn't perfect. Some criticism he recieved was warranted, and I hope he doesn't have the same read on the situation that the Golics do because I'm not sure how much more love we could've given him (random dipshits on Twitter aside that exist for every team). I also hope the Golics know that posting shit like this about ND helps no worthy cause.

 

[ulukinatme]

Alright you're not responding to my point to the degree that I feel like you don't even understand my perspective. I'm going to assume you agree with me since you're not saying anything I really care about, and you can sleep well knowing that I thought Tommy was a good young OC that I was sorry to see go.

Tl;Dr, I have very little issue with Tommy, but I think he's a normal person and isn't perfect. Some criticism he recieved was warranted, and I hope he doesn't have the same read on the situation that the Golics do because I'm not sure how much more love we could've given him (random dipshits on Twitter aside that exist for every team). I also hope the Golics know that posting shit like this about ND helps no worthy cause.

I agree with almost everything you're saying here, but I in no way saw a ton of love and support thrown his way by fans. I saw a very mixed bag of appreciation for Rees over the years. I feel like a lot of fans either loved him or hated him, and a lot of fans that hated him as a player didn't care for him as a coach either (As if his athletic limitations had any bearing on his ability as a coach). I agree, he wasn't perfect by any means. I think he failed in some talent evaluations, although it's hard to know how much of a hand BK had in those because he did pretty well recruiting once he was out of his shadow.

I think he walked into a suboptimal situation, but made the most of it and left us setup better for the future than what he was given when he took over. I don't follow the Golics, so I don't have an opinion or knowledge on what they've said. My opinions are my own, and I fully own up that I've been a Tommy fan since 2010. I choose to look at his playing career as a glass half full situation, because I understand that the glass could have also been empty had he not stepped up to the plate when others did not. That goes the same for Long and BK dropping the ball in recruiting. If Rees had been as bad as Parker in those years we would have lost a lot more games, so I'm appreciative for that.

I really hope we knock the next OC hire out of the park, because we could really be successful with a dynamic offense that doesn't get stymied against every competent defense we face. We've got a lot of young talent on this team, although we've lost some potential in the last week. Hopefully the rest are retained, they just need the right coach so they can take off.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Remember when people were shitting nails over how bad their offense looked against South Florida?

Yeah, me neither. Committee sure as hell didn't.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Remember when people were shitting nails over how bad their offense looked against South Florida?

Yeah, me neither. Committee sure as hell didn't.

Saban took off Rees' handcuffs after the first couple games