Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[IrishBoognish]

Clemson wasn't the Clemson we know now until they got DWatson. All it takes is one guy to change the narrative.

(And we may already have him on the roster.)

 

[RDU Irish]

Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams.... yeah DWatson is good but some of his targets made his life a lot easier.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams.... yeah DWatson is good but some of his targets made his life a lot easier.

Are we talking about QB's or just whatever fits for the moment? Last time I checked, the argument in the thread for the QB coach was lack of QB's.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Williams.... yeah DWatson is good but some of his targets made his life a lot easier.

Watkins and Hopkins were gone by the time Watson got to Clemson.

And Williams missed the 2015 season, which was the best statistical year Watson had at Clemson. That year, Watson spread it around a lot, and he had to rely primarily on young guys like Deon Cain and Artavis Scott, along with Charone Peak, who was much like Javon McKinley, a once heralded recruit who, up until his 5th year, had very little production.

 

[GATTACA!]

this thread is about Tommy Rees, not you.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Woa what? Why?”

“We’re not talking about you! Asshole.”

 

[Irish#1]

Well the continuity of the staff didn't pan out as suspected, but I don't think anyone in particular is to blame. I guess you can blame MF for Elston leaving, but Elston probably stayed because he thought he would get the DC position then left after getting a D- in the Fiesta bowl. Hard to blame McNulty for taking an OC position. Or, maybe MF made it clear to everyone that his expectations for the staff was much higher than BK's and some didn't want to ramp it up a notch or two? I tend to be cautiously optimistic, so the turnover in staff isn't a bad thing IMO.

 

[Free Manera]

Well the continuity of the staff didn't pan out as suspected, but I don't think anyone in particular is to blame. I guess you can blame MF for Elston leaving, but Elston probably stayed because he thought he would get the DC position then left after getting a D- in the Fiesta bowl. Hard to blame McNulty for taking an OC position. Or, maybe MF made it clear to everyone that his expectations for the staff was much higher than BK's and some didn't want to ramp it up a notch or two? I tend to be cautiously optimistic, so the turnover in staff isn't a bad thing IMO.

Agree. Good coaches leave good programs for good jobs. It is to be expected.

Elston got upgraded so whatever, good luck in Ann Arbor.

I am cautiously optimistic that this may be an upgrade at every position save for maybe tight ends. McNulty was more than a TE coach, he was basically a mentor to Rees. I'm not sure Parker can fill that role as he doesn't have much more experience than Rees.

I am really excited to see what this staff can put together though. The 2023 class has a chance to be top 3.

 

[RDU Irish]

Watkins and Hopkins were gone by the time Watson got to Clemson.

And Williams missed the 2015 season, which was the best statistical year Watson had at Clemson. That year, Watson spread it around a lot, and he had to rely primarily on young guys like Deon Cain and Artavis Scott, along with Charone Peak, who was much like Javon McKinley, a once heralded recruit who, up until his 5th year, had very little production.

Appreciate the better recall than me leading to an excellent points supporting the fact Watson was CFB ringer. I will massage my theory to this - NFL pro-bowl level WRs help recruit elite QBs whether they get to throw to them or not. Rees would probably be a better recruiter if we had Fuller, Boykin and Claypool on the roster presently to compliment Mayer. That would be in their prime not their freshman selves - Bama and OSU bring in freshmen at that level and don't wait to develop them over 4 or 5 years. They gone in 3.

I can't decide if our issue is a) chicken versus egg on WR/QB talent leading to the other or b) just normal luck in failing to catch lightning in a bottle with an all world QB to put us over the top.

 

[IrishLion]

Appreciate the better recall than me leading to an excellent points supporting the fact Watson was CFB ringer. I will massage my theory to this - NFL pro-bowl level WRs help recruit elite QBs whether they get to throw to them or not. Rees would probably be a better recruiter if we had Fuller, Boykin and Claypool on the roster presently to compliment Mayer. That would be in their prime not their freshman selves - Bama and OSU bring in freshmen at that level and don't wait to develop them over 4 or 5 years. They gone in 3.

I can't decide if our issue is a) chicken versus egg on WR/QB talent leading to the other or b) just normal luck in failing to catch lightning in a bottle with an all world QB to put us over the top.

A little of both, but I'd imagine it leans to not having a stud QB slinging bombs down the field all the time, which means WR's aren't excited to sign up without insurance on the roster in the form of a proven commodity.

That goes hand-in-hand with the second part, though, and that is having simply not gotten lucky with any of the four-start type of guys playing above their rankings and expectations.

Is that on Tommy? BK? A lack of faith in letting young guys sling the ball around and dealing with the growing pains?

We'll see with Buchner at the helm this year! I'll be honest, though... I thought the VT game last year was Buchner's coming out party, and ND had miraculously broken the dam at QB. But then he threw a couple of freshmen mistakes to VT's DB's and his playing time decreased as the schedule softened (which is frustrating, in retrospect).

 

[ulukinatme]

Rick Mirer, Brady Quinn, Jimmy Claussen - we have had top tier college QBs. ND needs to hit the QB lottery if they want to take the next step, IMO.

Clausen was over a decade ago. Quinn is close to two decades ago...and Buckner was rated higher than Quinn nationally (But 3 spots farther back among QBs). Mirer was three decades ago when he was Rookie of the Year. Point is we're not exactly known for developing a lot of stellar QBs as of late, especially when it comes to the NFL. Most big time 5 star talents aren't thinking about a degree and life after football, they're looking to go where they'll have a springboard to the pros. Right now that's generally a handful of several schools: Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma, USC and Georgia to some extent, etc. Even when we pulled in Clausen and Crist it was the lure of Weis' NFL ties that brought them in. I doubt flashing Super Bowl rings will work like that in 2022.

We've got to win the big games and quit slipping up on the big stages. To do that we've got to have consistent talent at WR to throw to, which means we need more than Styles. Gotta get the defense stout again too. I'm not saying we can't do better at QB recruiting, I'd love it if we could bring in a 5 star talent every other year like Saban, but it's going to be hard until we prove ourselves and quit getting embarrassed in big bowls. We're not completely devoid of talent, teams have done more with less at the position. Buckner is probably the highest threshold we can expect until we improve, and honestly he should be enough if he lives up to potential. Again, that potential is all determined by a group of recruitniks that are wrong almost as often as they are right. Other people need to remember that and take all the "stars" with a grain of salt.

 

[ulukinatme]

The thing is ND could have had Allar who may be the best QB in this class. There are elite guys that may be interested, you just have to do your due diligence.

There have been way too many stories from the Kelly years of, "he may have been interested, ND just assumed he wasn't and didn't try." (This wasn't the issue with Allar, they just took too long with him). But Sneed would 100% have been one of those guys if not for Freeman. He turned the whole operation on its head.

Happens a lot in college, Kelly's not the only one that missed opportunities. I remember reading on the Texas board how JT Barrett, Andrew Luck, and Manziel all grew up as Longhorn fans but Mack Brown never really recruited them. Mack did like Manziel, but as a Safety Texas has had their own problems whiffing on QB talent ever since Colt McCoy left. They thought they had their guys in big recruits like Garret Gilbert, Jerrod Heard, Sam Ehlinger, etc but none of them led them back to the promised land. Recruiting is a crap shoot, you absolutely have to do your best, but there will always be missed opportunities and guys that didn't live up to billing.

 

[irishff1014]

Happens a lot in college, Kelly's not the only one that missed opportunities. I remember reading on the Texas board how JT Barrett, Andrew Luck, and Manziel all grew up as Longhorn fans but Mack Brown never really recruited them. Mack did like Manziel, but as a Safety Texas has had their own problems whiffing on QB talent ever since Colt McCoy left. They thought they had their guys in big recruits like Garret Gilbert, Jerrod Heard, Sam Ehlinger, etc but none of them led them back to the promised land. Recruiting is a crap shoot, you absolutely have to do your best, but there will always be missed opportunities and guys that didn't live up to billing.

That’s why you have to be good at developing a QB. Again an area we are good at. If everyone says a TE coach isn’t that big of a deal the we should bypass it and have a QB coach. This way when we get the mid level QBs they can really get their attention.

 

[IrishLax]

QB is one of the hardest positions to recruit. Even if you get a "5 star" guy they're often a bust. This is where transfers end up playing such a huge factor for a lot of teams, and where ND could be hurt moving forward in their difficulties taking an undergrad transfer // not spending NIL money the same as some other schools.

 

[NDRock]

QB is one of the hardest positions to recruit. Even if you get a "5 star" guy they're often a bust. This is where transfers end up playing such a huge factor for a lot of teams, and where ND could be hurt moving forward in their difficulties taking an undergrad transfer // not spending NIL money the same as some other schools.

My biggest issue with Rees’ recruiting is getting guys with no real elite traits (minus TB). We keep going after low ceiling guys. At least when we were getting guys like Kizer, Zaire, Wimbush, etc.. there was potential for having a dynamic playmaker back there.

I’d personally like to see us run a Raven’s style offense with TB12. Power run game, QB getting 8-10 carries, lots of use of the TEs and deep shots to the wideouts. The issue with that is we only have one QB who can run so if TB gets hurt we need to go another direction. Kelly struggled developing guys like TB12 (or at least creating a successful offense for them), we’ll see if Rees is any better.

 

[Huntr]

 

[irishandy]

To me it takes more than a QB to win a NC or get to a NC. When ND went to the BCS championship we did it on our defense the whole season. Golson was OK as a QB, but he had enough pieces around him to be the team it was.

This board is so hung up on ND not getting Allar, when he does something at PSU great, until then I am happy with Angeli.

Since this is about Tommy-- I would like to see ND land Moore in the 2023 class. I think they can seal the deal if Freeman gets involved in his recruitment and ND could be saving that for the closer.

 

[Valpodoc85]

Good on Tommy. He took middlin' athletic talent and thru hard work and smarts became the starting QB at ND and won a bunch of games. Now he is applying the same philosophy to coaching and making bank without trashing his body. Good on him. Recruits need to look at Tommy and MF and realize ND provides this sort of a pathway. Success on Sundays? Perhaps. Success all week sure.

 

[T-Boone]

He can claim to have produced a super bowl winning WR out of nothing not much.

 

[Rogue219]

The Rams are expected to hire Liam Coen from Kentucky as their new OC.

 

[T-Boone]

The Rams are expected to hire Liam Coen from Kentucky as their new OC.

Didn't he write The Big Lebowski?

 

[StPaul_Irish]

Didn't he write The Big Lebowski?

I think that was his brother

 

[GATTACA!]

I think that was his brother

Well that’s just like, your opinion, man.

 

[Dale]

 

[tko]

I am trying to carve out some time to listen to the pressers, but I'm wondering if Rees had to answer for one foot being out the door for the last two months? I get young coaches want to climb the ladder, however, we could use 2-3 years of stability after this carousel. I imagine coaches will be neg recruiting even harder knowing Tommy is on the hunt. I understand it's part of the biz, but it's extremely frustrating.

 

[irishff1014]

I am trying to carve out some time to listen to the pressers, but I'm wondering if Rees had to answer for one foot being out the door for the last two months? I get young coaches want to climb the ladder, however, we could use 2-3 years of stability after this carousel. I imagine coaches will be neg recruiting even harder knowing Tommy is on the hunt. I understand it's part of the biz, but it's extremely frustrating.

There were time limits on the interviews. He did say but freeman did say that he heard the rumors and went to him and asked if ND is where he wanted to be.

 

[Rogue219]

I'd love to see some data as it relates to "stability" among Power Five schools in the last five years. I want to know who actually has it and what success looks like in that respect, because I fail to understand how people expect minimal to no movement in a profession that has guys getting fired and hired on an annual basis.

Notre Dame just had a head coach leave who was at the position for 11 years. Same amount of years as Leahy, Parseghian and Holtz. Only Rockne served longer. Miami, for example, I think had four head coaches during that period?

Here is what I know is certain about Rees: Kelly left for LSU. Rees had an offer to go with him. He did not. He's staying at Notre Dame and is there presently.

 

[greyhammer90]

I am trying to carve out some time to listen to the pressers, but I'm wondering if Rees had to answer for one foot being out the door for the last two months? I get young coaches want to climb the ladder, however, we could use 2-3 years of stability after this carousel. I imagine coaches will be neg recruiting even harder knowing Tommy is on the hunt. I understand it's part of the biz, but it's extremely frustrating.

I understand the frustration but if rumors are to be believed he's given up what most people would consider life changing money in order to remain here. I'm not so naive that I think it was purely out of the goodness of his heart, he did get a nice pay raise after all, but I think he's done a fairly commendable job of balancing being loyal to Notre Dame and being in the "Tommy Rees business."

 

[Rack Em]

I understand the frustration but if rumors are to be believed he's given up what most people would consider life changing money in order to remain here. I'm not so naive that I think it was purely out of the goodness of his heart, he did get a nice pay raise after all, but I think he's done a fairly commendable job of balancing being loyal to Notre Dame and being in the "Tommy Rees business."

Is "South Bend Police Speed Training" a Tommy Rees Business portfolio company?

 

[greyhammer90]

Is "South Bend Police Speed Training" a Tommy Rees Business portfolio company?

What would that business even sell? How to not be fast enough to outrun a cop?

 

[ulukinatme]

Is "South Bend Police Speed Training" a Tommy Rees Business portfolio company?

The motto should be "Never benched, just arrested."