Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[NDRock]

Just wondering out loud... who would be the offensive genius if ND had Hooker and UT had Pyne?

Josh Heupel’s scoring offense as a head coach:

2018 - 6th
2019 - 5th
2020 - 8th
2021 - 7th
2022 - 2nd

Dude can put together an offense.

 

[NDMatt91]

Tommy does not look well. I hope he finds success soon. As frustrating as it has been to watch this offense and as much as it isn’t working out with him at OC, I still don’t wish him ill. He’s made some glaring mistakes, but I appreciate him owning up to the failure... but now do something. It’s clear he has the year to coach here and it’s unlikely he will be fired during the season.

I've been as hard on Rees as anyone and I agree. I have no ill will towards him, but I also hope he doesn't let the door hit him on his way out at the end of the season, given the abomination that is our QB room at a program the caliber of ND.

Just wondering out loud... who would be the offensive genius if ND had Hooker and UT had Pyne?

I think Tommy boy would look pretty good with Hooker since he was already developed at another program like Jack Coan was.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Love Tommy and I am a huge critic; but happy he took the falling on the sword for the guys. I am not gonna kick him while he is in the gutter.

 

[Irish du Nord]

I still can't get over how crazy it was that UT looked at Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker and went with Milton. I know it's easy to look back, but Milton could barely throw a football at Michigan and Hooker was a good QB at Virginia Tech.

Neither of those guys played at Toledo, idk what you’re talking about

 

[ulukinatme]

Looks like poor little UNtouchdown Tommy either hit the bong or just got done crying because he realizes how shitty he is! 🤣

Show some class. Criticism for poor gameplans are fair, but at the end of the day he's alumni and stuck around when BK bolted.

 

[IrishTusker]

Show some class. Criticism for poor gameplans are fair, but at the end of the day he's alumni and stuck around when BK bolted.

It's not a nice thing to say, but the extreme nepotism at ND has cost the program. TR wouldn't have been hired as OC if he hadn't played here.

 

[stlnd01]

It's not a nice thing to say, but the extreme nepotism at ND has cost the program. TR wouldn't have been hired as OC if he hadn't played here.

That may well be true. But that relationship goes both ways. He stuck here last year to provide some stability at a time when we very much needed it. Not everyone does that.

If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, he’s surely made mistakes, and Freeman should be free to move forward with someone else at OC. But Rees is a Notre Dame Man as much as anyone, we don’t need to rag on the guy too hard.

 

[ulukinatme]

It's not a nice thing to say, but the extreme nepotism at ND has cost the program. TR wouldn't have been hired as OC if he hadn't played here.

I can promise you that few people feel it harder than the staff when things aren't going well. This isn't just a passion for them, it's also their livelihood. These guys love the university and the players, and they're certainly not out there to suck. As Lou used to say: "On this team, we're all united in a common goal: to keep my job."

Like I said, criticism is more than fair, no need to be classless about it though. As we've seen the recruits and their families see that too and they've spoken out about it the last week.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Hiring Danny White as A.D. ended up being a good decision by Tennessee. To this point.

One of the few good ones they've made in a while.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

It's not a nice thing to say, but the extreme nepotism at ND has cost the program. TR wouldn't have been hired as OC if he hadn't played here.

Jeff Quinn was extreme nepotism. He putzed around behind the scenes for THREE YEARS until he became OL Coach.

Let's stop with the nepotism accusations regarding Rees and maybe put them into some context, because this wasn't hiring Brian Van Gorder.

Rees was a GA at Northwestern, spent a year with the Chargers, was QB coach for three years, then took over as OC during the pandemic following a tenure of Chip Long that fostered tension on multiple levels at The Gug. Not to the point of a player rebellion, but close, and long was a 2018 Broyles Award finalist. Long's personality was way too much like Kelly's and it didn't work despite the statistical successes the offense may have seen on the field. Kelly let long go and made Rees the OC because he's smart, was well liked around The Gug and was someone the kids wanted to play for. He'd also been a part of the staff under Kelly and Long, so it was as much an internal football hire as it was a culture hire.

Rees played for Kelly at ND and was brought in as an assistant coach by Kelly later on. If an alien from space landed on Earth, it would take the alien less than five minutes to understand how the football coaching industry works. It's full of white dudes like Kelly who hire their friends, often to insulate themselves with guys they know and trust because the majority of them are hired to be fired.

Plenty of assistants never work their way up for anything. They get into a P5 job based on someone they know and don't have to spend time coaching at Elon or in the MAC. Everyone's favorite Bro Urban Meyer got an interview with Lou Holtz because Skip set it up without asking Lou first. Meyer never coordinated an offense and became a head coach at Bowling Green. Rees has had some advantages, but I'd say the overwhelming reason he's here is because he's intelligent (despite what all the geniuses here think) and relates to the players.

 

[NDRock]

Hiring Danny White as A.D. ended up being a good decision by Tennessee. To this point.

One of the few good ones they've made in a while.

UT sports as a whole is definitely on the upswing.

 

[stlnd01]

Jeff Quinn was extreme nepotism. He putzed around behind the scenes for THREE YEARS until he became OL Coach.

Let's stop with the nepotism accusations regarding Rees and maybe put them into some context, because this wasn't hiring Brian Van Gorder.

Rees was a GA at Northwestern, spent a year with the Chargers, was QB coach for three years, then took over as OC during the pandemic following a tenure of Chip Long that fostered tension on multiple levels at The Gug. Not to the point of a player rebellion, but close, and long was a 2018 Broyles Award finalist. Long's personality was way too much like Kelly's and it didn't work despite the statistical successes the offense may have seen on the field. Kelly let long go and made Rees the OC because he's smart, was well liked around The Gug and was someone the kids wanted to play for. He'd also been a part of the staff under Kelly and Long, so it was as much an internal football hire as it was a culture hire.

Rees played for Kelly at ND and was brought in as an assistant coach by Kelly later on. If an alien from space landed on Earth, it would take the alien less than five minutes to understand how the football coaching industry works. It's full of white dudes like Kelly who hire their friends, often to insulate themselves with guys they know and trust because the majority of them are hired to be fired.

Plenty of assistants never work their way up for anything. They get into a P5 job based on someone they know and don't have to spend time coaching at Elon or in the MAC. Everyone's favorite Bro Urban Meyer got an interview with Lou Holtz because Skip set it up without asking Lou first. Meyer never coordinated an offense and became a head coach at Bowling Green. Rees has had some advantages, but I'd say the overwhelming reason he's here is because he's intelligent (despite what all the geniuses here think) and relates to the players.

He's also one of the few human beings on the planet who know what it's like to be a (relatively) successful, multi-year starting quarterback at modern-day Notre Dame. Given his job description, that's a reasonably good line to have on the resume.
It's surely not the end-all be-all (witness Lyght, Denson), and it may create an overconfidence that any three-star QB with traits can be the next Tommy Rees (ha!). But he brings a lot to the job.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

He's also one of the few human beings on the planet who know what it's like to be a (relatively) successful, multi-year starting quarterback at modern-day Notre Dame. Given his job description, that's a reasonably good line to have on the resume.
It's surely not the end-all be-all (witness Lyght, Denson), and it may create an overconfidence that any three-star QB with traits can be the next Tommy Rees (ha!). But he brings a lot to the job.

It really isn't the end all be all, and my preference more often than not is never jump to the alumni pack of candidates as a fan just because, but calling this nepotism kind of ignores what this industry is and how it works more often than not.

Bill Belichick has both of his sons on his coaching staff in New England. One was a long snapper at Rutgers and the other never played football in college as best I can tell. A lot of these guys hire their sons to be on their staffs.

Look at Iowa. Their offense is pretty far down the shit pile from ND.

 

[stlnd01]

It really isn't the end all be all, and my preference more often than not is never jump to the alumni pack of candidates as a fan just because, but calling this nepotism kind of ignores what this industry is and how it works more often than not.

Bill Belichick has both of his sons on his coaching staff in New England. One was a long snapper at Rutgers and the other never played football in college as best I can tell. A lot of these guys hire their sons to be on their staffs.

Look at Iowa. Their offense is pretty far down the shit pile from ND.

Yep. The Belichick situation is embarrassing. Ferentz too. This ain't that.

 

[Irishdrunk]

Jeff Quinn was extreme nepotism. He putzed around behind the scenes for THREE YEARS until he became OL Coach.

Let's stop with the nepotism accusations regarding Rees and maybe put them into some context, because this wasn't hiring Brian Van Gorder.

Rees was a GA at Northwestern, spent a year with the Chargers, was QB coach for three years, then took over as OC during the pandemic following a tenure of Chip Long that fostered tension on multiple levels at The Gug. Not to the point of a player rebellion, but close, and long was a 2018 Broyles Award finalist. Long's personality was way too much like Kelly's and it didn't work despite the statistical successes the offense may have seen on the field. Kelly let long go and made Rees the OC because he's smart, was well liked around The Gug and was someone the kids wanted to play for. He'd also been a part of the staff under Kelly and Long, so it was as much an internal football hire as it was a culture hire.

Rees played for Kelly at ND and was brought in as an assistant coach by Kelly later on. If an alien from space landed on Earth, it would take the alien less than five minutes to understand how the football coaching industry works. It's full of white dudes like Kelly who hire their friends, often to insulate themselves with guys they know and trust because the majority of them are hired to be fired.

Plenty of assistants never work their way up for anything. They get into a P5 job based on someone they know and don't have to spend time coaching at Elon or in the MAC. Everyone's favorite Bro Urban Meyer got an interview with Lou Holtz because Skip set it up without asking Lou first. Meyer never coordinated an offense and became a head coach at Bowling Green. Rees has had some advantages, but I'd say the overwhelming reason he's here is because he's intelligent (despite what all the geniuses here think) and relates to the players.

Great narrative but he still sucks. His pairing with an inexperienced HC from the defensive side of the ball has been an unmitigated disaster. Also, I cringe at the thought of him being hired before Freeman. The optics are horrible and now we see the results - the blind leading the blind on offense.

 

[Dale]

Can’t wait to watch the Egg Bowl in a few weeks and someone complains that we didn’t hire Charlie Weis Jr.


Nepotism is a part of hiring in all walks of life. It goes badly sometimes, it works out fine others (ahem Lebby, Briles etc etc etc). Just as normal hires sometimes work out, sometimes don’t.

 

[ulukinatme]

Calling all armchair QBs. Sounds like the admin didn't want to spend money again.

There have been plenty of rumors, innuendo, call it what you want, that Freeman floated the idea to Rees of bringing in an offensive analyst with head coaching experience to help Rees with the offense. Rees was asked about that suggestion.

“First of all, Coach Freeman doesn't need to ask my permission for anything,” Rees explained. “So like any question of that is a joke, because it’s his program. We've had conversations going all the way back to probably last December about the staff. At no point were we ever closed off to the idea of bringing anyone in. But at the end of the day, it's Coach Freeman's decision. We were trying all the way up through training camp to add. We had an offensive analyst spot open. We still have one open, so if any of you guys want to come work 20 hours a week, come on in.

"But we were trying all the way through camp to hire guys with former experience,” Rees continued. “We were hungry to add that. I think anybody that's really spent time around him or me know that that is something we were eager to try to explore and try to make work. I don't know where some narratives come from, but it couldn't have been further from the reality of the situation. We were working with the university and trying to find ways to get some guys here. It didn’t work right now. It doesn't mean it won't work moving forward.”

Tommy Rees Talks Notre Dame Offense, Play Calling, Tobias Merriweather And More

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees discussed several topics at his most recent media season

www.si.com

 

[FOTY977]

Calling all armchair QBs. Sounds like the admin didn't want to spend money again.

Tommy Rees Talks Notre Dame Offense, Play Calling, Tobias Merriweather And More

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees discussed several topics at his most recent media season

www.si.com

Armies march on their stomachs, and these brothers are starving.

 

[IrishLax]

It really isn't the end all be all, and my preference more often than not is never jump to the alumni pack of candidates as a fan just because, but calling this nepotism kind of ignores what this industry is and how it works more often than not.

Bill Belichick has both of his sons on his coaching staff in New England. One was a long snapper at Rutgers and the other never played football in college as best I can tell. A lot of these guys hire their sons to be on their staffs.

Look at Iowa. Their offense is pretty far down the shit pile from ND.

Pretty sure both his sons played lacrosse. I think the one at Rutgers was lacrosse/football, I know for certain that he was a longpole because I coach defense and it came up in conversation once. I think his other son played at some D3 place.

TLDR: I'm qualified for a job on the Patriots.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Pretty sure both his sons played lacrosse. I think the one at Rutgers was lacrosse/football, I know for certain that he was a longpole because I coach defense and it came up in conversation once. I think his other son played at some D3 place.

TLDR: I'm qualified for a job on the Patriots.

Correct.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[T-Boone]

When Rees was hired the screw up was timing in that everything else was close to championship level and also it had just dawned on everyone that offense and QB in particular was way more important than anything else. BK should have got the absolute best candidate.

 

[Sea Turtle]

When Rees was hired the screw up was timing in that everything else was close to championship level and also it had just dawned on everyone that offense and QB in particular was way more important than anything else. BK should have got the absolute best candidate.

ND is always 10 years behind. We are still trying to play like Alabama from 2012.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

When Rees was hired the screw up was timing in that everything else was close to championship level and also it had just dawned on everyone that offense and QB in particular was way more important than anything else. BK should have got the absolute best candidate.

How often did Kelly go out and hire "the absolute best candidate" available for a coordinator position? Maybe Elko and Freeman, but that's it. Every other hire was either internal or a lazy in-network pick.

 

[IrishLion]

How often did Kelly go out and hire "the absolute best candidate" available for a coordinator position? Maybe Elko and Freeman, but that's it. Every other hire was either internal and a lazy in-network pick.

I think that speaks to BK continuing to believe himself to be *enough* on the offensive side of the ball, despite all of evidence he had about his own offense's shortcomings against elite opposition.

He knew he had to hire an elite DC to stay in the playoff hunt... but thought his own offensive acumen was sufficient for any hire on that side of the ball to work out. Hubris? Terrible blind spot? Willful ignorance?

 

[Whiskeyjack]

He knew he had to hire an elite DC to stay in the playoff hunt... but thought his own offensive acumen was sufficient for any hire on that side of the ball to work out. Hubris? Terrible blind spot? Willful ignorance?

All of the above? Especially when paired with his refusal to put in the work necessary to attract elite QBs.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think Kelly ended up getting Long, Dension, Rees, Taylor, Elko, Lea and Freeman correct. Van Gorder, Del Alexander, Gilmore, Quinn, Sanford ended up being less than correct for me. Sanford very much after the fact.

Rees was an in building hire to replace Long when there was close to mutiny boiling over with regards to Long. The players liked Rees and respected him, but he also had command of what the could do offensively moving forward.

 

[ulukinatme]

ND is always 10 years behind. We are still trying to play like Alabama from 2012.

Explains our QB targets, lots of AJ McCarron game managers. Years behind on the training table. Big, physical WRs.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I think Kelly ended up getting Long, Dension, Rees, Taylor, Elko, Lea and Freeman correct. Van Gorder, Del Alexander, Gilmore, Quinn, Sanford ended up being less than correct for me. Sanford very much after the fact.

Rees was an in building hire to replace Long when there was close to mutiny boiling over with regards to Long. The players liked Rees and respected him, but he also had command of what the could do offensively moving forward.

I don't disagree, but "correct" is a far cry from "absolute best candidate." It's obviously not reasonable to expect the HC at ND to go through all the effort involved with a truly national search every time a coordinator role opens up. But given our perennially pedestrian offense was the glaringly obvious thing holding us back from competing in the post-season, Kelly absolutely should have done that at least once for the OC.

I suspect Lion is right and that his ego prevented him from doing so.

 

[Sea Turtle]

No more On Golden Pond offense.