Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

IrishLion

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There are levels to the idea of “qualified” when it comes to football coaches.

TR being hired by a new HC with limited experience? NOT qualified

TR being hired by his former HC, to coach a system that had evolved from the very system that he played in, and being able to lean on his former HC who was an offensive guru with 20+ years of experience? Different story.

Context is important! As is the context that Rees later showed to be a pretty damn good play designer/caller.
 
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mrwayne

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IrishLion said:
There are levels to the idea of “qualified” when it comes to football coaches.

TR being hired by a new HC with limited experience? NOT qualified

TR being hired by his former HC, to coach a system that had evolved from the very system that he played in, and being able to lean on his former HC who was an offensive guru with 20+ years of experience? Different story.

Context is important! As is the context that Rees later showed to be a pretty damn good play designer/caller.
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Agree, and GM's and AD's bypass this simple truth too often and it only works in extreme outliers.
Also, TR also had spent his entire college and pro career in one place. He needed to get cross-pollination and staying would have held back ND and himself.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

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MeanGreenBeans said:
It's cool he didn't leave to LSU for a bigger payday- major respect for that. The program needed that stability, and I love that he snubbed BK in the process. But that interview w/ Rusillo was self-important and cringeworthy (I'm probably biased b/c I think Rusillo is also both of those things just in general). So was his Wolf of Wall Street-ish speech to the team which I don't think garnered the celebration and applause he was seeking.
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ulukinatme

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MeanGreenBeans said:
It's cool he didn't leave to LSU for a bigger payday- major respect for that. The program needed that stability, and I love that he snubbed BK in the process. But that interview w/ Rusillo was self-important and cringeworthy (I'm probably biased b/c I think Rusillo is also both of those things just in general). So was his Wolf of Wall Street-ish speech to the team which I don't think garnered the celebration and applause he was seeking.
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I don't think he was seeking a huge ovation. What matters is what his players think about him. Ask any QB or former player that he coached and they all speak very highly of Tommy (Except for 5 Star Philure, who's a bitch). Even Wimbush, who got benched in favor of Book, had nothing but glowing things to say about him. Respect is earned, and he has the players' respect.
 
FightingIrishLover7

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stlnd01 said:
A bit ironical that that line was used in relation to Michigan recruiting Dante Moore. Which of course Notre Dame was also doing at the time. All the more reason Rees is a gangster.
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Dante is a class ahead of CJ
Michigan was recruiting other kids in CJs class.

ND actually used CJ to push Dante. (Which then actually pushed Dante out the door)
 
stlnd01

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FightingIrishLover7 said:
Dante is a class ahead of CJ
Michigan was recruiting other kids in CJs class.

ND actually used CJ to push Dante. (Which then actually pushed Dante out the door)
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The line in the story right before the quote in that tweet directly referenced Dante Moore, and it seemed like that conversation happened at a time when Moore was still in play (Carr committed pretty early, a month before Moore committed to UCLA even though he was a year younger).

Yes they were a year apart, but they would absolutely have been in competition with one another had they ended up at the same school. If Moore had been as solid to Notre Dame as Carr was, I kind of doubt Carr ends up here. But it all worked out in the end.
 
Irish#1

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ulukinatme said:
If Carr manages to bring us a championship this season, and Tommy was the one that brought him in, maybe that will exorcise some of the demons among the Reesus unfaithful?
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Never understood the hate for Tommy. Maybe it was because he didn't possess a rocket arm, but he sure had it between the ears.
 
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stlnd01 said:
The line in the story right before the quote in that tweet directly referenced Dante Moore, and it seemed like that conversation happened at a time when Moore was still in play (Carr committed pretty early, a month before Moore committed to UCLA even though he was a year younger).

Yes they were a year apart, but they would absolutely have been in competition with one another had they ended up at the same school. If Moore had been as solid to Notre Dame as Carr was, I kind of doubt Carr ends up here. But it all worked out in the end.
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If Dante ever went public, history could be so different. He was such a taboo subject but the nd reporters have been much lot open recently about him because Cj developed.

Fwiw, Dante actually committed to Oregon first. Then flipped to UCLA. Then pulled a Keeley lol
 
stlnd01

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allenm5333 said:
If Dante ever went public, history could be so different. He was such a taboo subject but the nd reporters have been much lot open recently about him because Cj developed.

Fwiw, Dante actually committed to Oregon first. Then flipped to UCLA. Then pulled a Keeley lol
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It was such a saga, for something that could never be discussed openly.

I do wonder how it all would have gone down if it was today and Notre Dame had made peace with upfront NIL to high school recruits.

But I think things turned out fine.
 
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allenm5333

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stlnd01 said:
It was such a saga, for something that could never be discussed openly.

I do wonder how it all would have gone down if it was today and Notre Dame had made peace with upfront NIL to high school recruits.

But I think things turned out fine.
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Driskell going incognito
 
Jiggafini19Deux

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ulukinatme said:
If Carr manages to bring us a championship this season, and Tommy was the one that brought him in, maybe that will exorcise some of the demons among the Reesus unfaithful?
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Highly doubtful. They're not going to give him that kind of credit, and the irrational hatred among that group has gone to the point that they'll never admit they were ever wrong or have anything positive to say about Tommy. Can't put the shit back into the donkey. These people didn't like him as a player or a coach regardless of whatever he did and didn't do in their minds.

It's funny because he's not even a blip on the radar to any other fanbases and among actual football circles, college and pro, he's highly respected and thought of. The vast majority of, if not all of, the venom he gets comes from within the Notre Dame fanbase.
 
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greyhammer90 said:
I think it's wild to state with certainty that a guy was not qualified for an OC job when he was offered probably the most coveted OC job in the country (at that time) two years later. At what point did he become qualified for the ND OC job? At what point did he become so qualified that he surpassed it and could get an even better job? He must've been a quick study! Such a quick study, it's almost like it was smart to hire him to the role in the first place.
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What we do know is BK made some lazy hires. I believe this was one of them. Was he unqualified? I’m going w yes. Could BK have done better. You bet.
 
greyhammer90

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jerseyborn1971 said:
Never understood the hate of Tommy Rees. He was a supposed no talent unathletic hack that won some big games for ND. And then he brings in CJ Carr? Why exactly am I supposed to hate him?
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I think it goes both ways. There are some who dislike him unfairly and who say things that are clearly stupid or that history has simply shown to be untrue (the team wasn't happy he stuck around when Kelly bounced, he wasn't "qualified" to be an OC when he was hired, etc.). These people are unserious and just want to bitch about something.

There's another group of Tommy lovers who lump you in with the first group if you have the nerve to be critical about anything. He was a good/great OC in his time here but he always seemed to put out one or two capital-S Stinkers a year. His complete misread of the QB room in '22 essentially cost us that season. His leaving for Alabama weeks before spring practice also cost us big in '23 and I think if it was anybody but Tommy he would have been labeled a traitor by the fanbase for that one. Because it was Touchdown Tommy we got a lot of defensiveness and "you can't say no to Saban!" rhetoric from ND fans who would be chasing him out of South Bend otherwise.

None of these are reasons to dislike Tommy. He's a certified "Notre Dame man". I'm a huge fan and always will be. He clearly did his best at every step for the University as a player and as a coach (with the exception of the Bama thing) and that's really all you can ask for. I think I get tired of the need to conflate fair criticism with "hate" and the fact that certain people (like Golic Jr.) feel the need to act like he's Notre Dame's Alfred Dreyfus and should be constantly apologized to by the ND community for not giving him enough flowers.
 
Jiggafini19Deux

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greyhammer90 said:
I think it goes both ways. There are some who dislike him unfairly and who say things that are clearly stupid or that history has simply shown to be untrue (the team wasn't happy he stuck around when Kelly bounced, he wasn't "qualified" to be an OC when he was hired, etc.). These people are unserious and just want to bitch about something.

There's another group of Tommy lovers who lump you in with the first group if you have the nerve to be critical about anything. He was a good/great OC in his time here but he always seemed to put out one or two capital-S Stinkers a year. His complete misread of the QB room in '22 essentially cost us that season. His leaving for Alabama weeks before spring practice also cost us big in '23 and I think if it was anybody but Tommy he would have been labeled a traitor by the fanbase for that one. Because it was Touchdown Tommy we got a lot of defensiveness and "you can't say no to Saban!" rhetoric from ND fans who would be chasing him out of South Bend otherwise.

None of these are reasons to dislike Tommy. He's a certified "Notre Dame man". I'm a huge fan and always will be. He clearly did his best at every step for the University as a player and as a coach (with the exception of the Bama thing) and that's really all you can ask for. I think I get tired of the need to conflate fair criticism with "hate" and the fact that certain people (like Golic Jr.) feel the need to act like he's Notre Dame's Alfred Dreyfus and should be constantly apologized to by the ND community for not giving him enough flowers.
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There is criticism, disrespect and hate. Depending on the ND fan, when it comes to Rees, these lines get crossed. It's fandom, message board discussion, etc. Sure. Doesn't have to be unserious and hyperbolic.

He can be appreciated and criticized as both a player and coach, but too many people are rewriting history. There is criticism and there is disrespect. I think it's more disrespect than hate, but he gets both. I don't hate him, I don't love him. He did good things and exceeded expectations during both stints here as a player and coach. He wasn't highly recruited, committed to Weis and never played a down for him. I think as a player, he was guilty of not being Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen more than anything when it came to fans.

He'll pop back up again, the thread gets bumped, and certain people want to start picking at the scabs again. I don't know if dudes lost mortgage payments betting because of Rees or something, but whatever it is, let it go. I don't get the impression the guy is an awful person. Wasn't a perfect player or OC, did plenty of good as both. Wish him well in his NFL endeavors and any success he has will have "Notre Dame" attached to him.
 
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Jiggafini19Deux said:
There is criticism, disrespect and hate. Depending on the ND fan, when it comes to Rees, these lines get crossed. It's fandom, message board discussion, etc. Sure. Doesn't have to be unserious and hyperbolic.

He can be appreciated and criticized as both a player and coach, but too many people are rewriting history. There is criticism and there is disrespect. I think it's more disrespect than hate, but he gets both. I don't hate him, I don't love him. He did good things and exceeded expectations during both stints here as a player and coach. He wasn't highly recruited, committed to Weis and never played a down for him. I think as a player, he was guilty of not being Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen more than anything when it came to fans.

He'll pop back up again, the thread gets bumped, and certain people want to start picking at the scabs again. I don't know if dudes lost mortgage payments betting because of Rees or something, but whatever it is, let it go. I don't get the impression the guy is an awful person. Wasn't a perfect player or OC, did plenty of good as both. Wish him well in his NFL endeavors and any success he has will have "Notre Dame" attached to him.
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This is where I'm at.
 
greyhammer90

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Jiggafini19Deux said:
There is criticism, disrespect and hate. Depending on the ND fan, when it comes to Rees, these lines get crossed. It's fandom, message board discussion, etc. Sure. Doesn't have to be unserious and hyperbolic.

He can be appreciated and criticized as both a player and coach, but too many people are rewriting history. There is criticism and there is disrespect. I think it's more disrespect than hate, but he gets both. I don't hate him, I don't love him. He did good things and exceeded expectations during both stints here as a player and coach. He wasn't highly recruited, committed to Weis and never played a down for him. I think as a player, he was guilty of not being Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen more than anything when it came to fans.

He'll pop back up again, the thread gets bumped, and certain people want to start picking at the scabs again. I don't know if dudes lost mortgage payments betting because of Rees or something, but whatever it is, let it go. I don't get the impression the guy is an awful person. Wasn't a perfect player or OC, did plenty of good as both. Wish him well in his NFL endeavors and any success he has will have "Notre Dame" attached to him.
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Oh yeah just to clarify I'll never criticize him as a player. Guy was out there giving his all as an unpaid player and clearly preparing better than the rest of his room. Any criticism I'm comfortable leveling comes from the time period when he was an adult coach being paid millions.
 
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