Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[Sea Turtle]

I hate this so much. Two things can be true:

1) Tommy is a a great (occasionally brilliant) play caller and a budding excellent OC, and

2) Tommy was consistently in charge of the weakest part of our team (the Offense) when he was in charge here, a lot of that weakness was because of the mediocrity of his QB room (which he largely handpicked and/or recruited).

He faced some message board criticism from the fans when his offense stalled out against Marshall and Stanford last year. Oh the horror. Meanwhile the University gave him every opportunity it could have, and was still working to put him in a position foe success. Remember, he left us to make a lateral move for another blue blood that his offense couldn't beat in the playoffs. Despite what would typically be seen as a betrayal, the fanbase opinion on him is largely positive with a good portion of us toasting his success. I really hope Tommy has a better opinion of ND fans than his friends, because I really don't know what more he could have realistically wanted in his time here.

He left his Alma Mater for a lateral position. He left in Alabamas private jet that landed practically on campus as a 'fuck you' to ND.

He wanted what every coach that ever coaches here wants, a chance to win big. He knows you can't do that here.

 

[ulukinatme]

He left his Alma Mater for a lateral position. He left in Alabamas private jet that landed practically on campus as a 'fuck you' to ND.

He wanted what every coach that ever coaches here wants, a chance to win big. He knows you can't do that here.

Alabama OC is in no way a lateral move from ND. I wish that wasn't true, but our OCs aren't getting P5 HC and NFL jobs.

 

[ulukinatme]

Tommy has gotten better as the season went on. He's improved about as much as he's helped Milroe improve. I thought he called a great game tonight too. He's definitely stepped it up and become more confident as an OC since September.

Those final two drives absolutely marched down the field on that Georgia defense, keeping the pressure on the dawgs. They've come a long way from the South Florida game earlier in the season.

 

[IrishTusker]

He left his Alma Mater for a lateral position. He left in Alabamas private jet that landed practically on campus as a 'fuck you' to ND.

He wanted what every coach that ever coaches here wants, a chance to win big. He knows you can't do that here.

Shall we list all of the coordinators who have gone through Alabama? Saban drives the bus there.

 

[greyhammer90]

Alabama OC is in no way a lateral move from ND. I wish that wasn't true, but our OCs aren't getting P5 HC and NFL jobs.

So Tommy is allowed to look out for No. 1 and what's in his best interest because this is a cold business, but we're supposed to shut up and not criticize him when his side of the ball is weak and costs us games.

I like Tommy a lot, and I join you in being frustrated by other posters who said he only got the job through favoritism. But the counter-circlejerk acting like Tommy's offenses were pearls before swine is just as stupid. Tommy was given the royal treatment by the University and trying to construct a "ND was holding him back and everyone underappreciated his genius" narrative is just untrue.

 

[Jeffwantpoppers]

Tommy has gotten better as the season went on. He's improved about as much as he's helped Milroe improve. I thought he called a great game tonight too. He's definitely stepped it up and become more confident as an OC since September.

I thought Tommy wasn’t playing to the strength of his players in September but that’s not the case any more. I have to believe Saban has been huge in his development.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sea Turtle]

So Tommy is allowed to look out for No. 1 and what's in his best interest because this is a cold business, but we're supposed to shut up and not criticize him when his side of the ball is weak and costs us games.

I like Tommy a lot, and I join you in being frustrated by other posters who said he only got the job through favoritism. But the counter-circlejerk acting like Tommy's offenses were pearls before swine is just as stupid. Tommy was given the royal treatment by the University and trying to construct a "ND was holding him back and everyone underappreciated his genius" narrative is just untrue.

You don't believe that ND holds the program and it's coaches back?

 

[IrishTusker]

You don't believe that ND holds the program and it's coaches back?

There's no evidence that "ND" was holding Rees back. Kelly was, of course.

 

[phork]

So Tommy is allowed to look out for No. 1 and what's in his best interest because this is a cold business, but we're supposed to shut up and not criticize him when his side of the ball is weak and costs us games.

I like Tommy a lot, and I join you in being frustrated by other posters who said he only got the job through favoritism. But the counter-circlejerk acting like Tommy's offenses were pearls before swine is just as stupid. Tommy was given the royal treatment by the University and trying to construct a "ND was holding him back and everyone underappreciated his genius" narrative is just untrue.

Lets not gloss over the fact that ND has anywhere near the talent Alabama has. Anyone would be crazy to not answer the call from Saban.
ND just doesn't have the talent at every position year to year. One year we have a stud RB, and no WRs (this year). The next is no RB but good WRs. Throw in the fact that we couldn't pull in a QB with half a heart beat year to year and you get we have we have now. Perpetual portal searching with middling offensive players.

 

[T-Boone]

In terms of development Parker gets credit for Mitch Evans. In his time as a coach Rees did not develop anyone.

 

[greyhammer90]

You don't believe that ND holds the program and it's coaches back?

Not in the way that's being implied by the Tommy camp. ND is not win at all costs and there are cultural obstacles. But if there's a upper ceiling on what an ND offense can be with those obstacles in place, I don't think Tommy ever sniffed it. Maybe that was bD luck due to injuries, or BK meddling, or whatever, but to act like we're a crazy spoiled fanbase for criticizing him for his shortcomings while he was here is bullshit.

 

[Bishop2b5]

So Tommy is allowed to look out for No. 1 and what's in his best interest because this is a cold business, but we're supposed to shut up and not criticize him when his side of the ball is weak and costs us games.

I like Tommy a lot, and I join you in being frustrated by other posters who said he only got the job through favoritism. But the counter-circlejerk acting like Tommy's offenses were pearls before swine is just as stupid. Tommy was given the royal treatment by the University and trying to construct a "ND was holding him back and everyone underappreciated his genius" narrative is just untrue.

I get some of the frustration and anger at Rees for leaving, and that he's doing better at Bama than he was at ND. Some of that is Saban and better talent, some is Tommy himself having grown and improved. It is a cold business, though. I've told this story before, but it bears repeating. Back in the mid-80s, I was living in Auburn. I ran into Pat Dye at a convenience store early one morning as he was getting some coffee before heading out to his farm. I asked him if he ever felt a little odd or conflicted when coaching against his alma mater Georgia, or Alabama where he'd been an assistant for several years. His immediate reply was to roar, "HELL NO! They don't pay me a dime to coach at those two places." It's all just a business. Nothing personal.

 

[greyhammer90]

Lets not gloss over the fact that ND has anywhere near the talent Alabama has. Anyone would be crazy to not answer the call from Saban.
ND just doesn't have the talent at every position year to year. One year we have a stud RB, and no WRs (this year). The next is no RB but good WRs. Throw in the fact that we couldn't pull in a QB with half a heart beat year to year and you get we have we have now. Perpetual portal searching with middling offensive players.

That's not responsive to what I'm saying. I'm not making an argument about whether what Tommy did was a betrayal, I'm saying that retroactively trying to go back and act like the ND fanbase were the bad guys in Disney's "The Tommy Rees Story" is bullshit.

Hell, your post is further evidence of that. Even now when I bring up that he left for a lateral job (which it is, by definition) I have at least 5 posters coming in to remind me that it's not "because Saban, and the career opportunities, and how could Tommy not follow his rainbow??" despite the fact that it objectively hurt our team this year. This is not something that a fanbase does for most coaches lol.

 

[T-Boone]

Tommy in his first year from memory had an offense that averaged about 25 points per game and we had that great defense. Tillery, Love, Tranquil, Coney, Julian Okwara etc.
Parker has done a much better job than Rees averaging 39 points per game.

 

[ulukinatme]

So Tommy is allowed to look out for No. 1 and what's in his best interest because this is a cold business, but we're supposed to shut up and not criticize him when his side of the ball is weak and costs us games.

I like Tommy a lot, and I join you in being frustrated by other posters who said he only got the job through favoritism. But the counter-circlejerk acting like Tommy's offenses were pearls before swine is just as stupid. Tommy was given the royal treatment by the University and trying to construct a "ND was holding him back and everyone underappreciated his genius" narrative is just untrue.

He was given an offense with a lot of holes, I'm not sure what you expect when over half the offense is freshmen and sophomores the previous two seasons. We probably should have lost more games. The QB position is on him a bit, but there's no way to know for sure how much of a finger BK had on the recruiting there. Rees was pretty good at turning lemons into lemonade, he did a decent job minimizing our limitations. Once BK was out of the picture he landed Minchey, Carr, and Hartman. You'd be hard pressed to land a better trio in a matter of months. Between Rees and Freeman they brought a lot of young talent in for 2023. It's clear Rees built this offense for a great 2023 run, and we had all kinds of talent with one of the most experienced groups in all CFB this year as we hung 60 on the cupcakes...but Parker absolutely blew it in the big games.

Rees did quite well with an Alabama offense this year that had no clear answer at QB in the spring and they looked like shit in September. They absolutely carved up Georgia at the end of the game to keep the pressure on and win the SEC Championship. That offense was absolutely electric. A lot of fans wanted him out, but had he stayed another season we could have been playoff bound. Instead Alabama has a chance to backdoor in depending on how far Georgia falls and how many teams Alabama ends up jumping.

 

[ulukinatme]

Tommy in his first year from memory had an offense that averaged about 25 points per game and we had that great defense. Tillery, Love, Tranquil, Coney, Julian Okwara etc.
Parker has done a much better job than Rees averaging 39 points per game.

Literally none of those guys were playing still when Tommy took over in 2020 Rees never averaged 25 points a game either.

Notre Dame Depth Chart vs. Duke

Notre Dame has released its depth chart for its week one matchup against Duke

www.si.com

 

[T-Boone]

I was clearly talking about something else - so yup I still win the conversation.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Not in the way that's being implied by the Tommy camp. ND is not win at all costs and there are cultural obstacles. But if there's a upper ceiling on what an ND offense can be with those obstacles in place, I don't think Tommy ever sniffed it. Maybe that was bD luck due to injuries, or BK meddling, or whatever, but to act like we're a crazy spoiled fanbase for criticizing him for his shortcomings while he was here is bullshit.

There is a difference between using nitrous(winning at all costs)to make your car faster and putting a restrictor plate/governor on it to keep it from going fast.

Our all time leader in wins and our OC alumnus bolted as soon as they could because they know you can't win here.

 

[ulukinatme]

I was clearly talking about something else - so yup I still win the conversation.

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.

 

[IrishTusker]

There is a difference between using nitrous(winning at all costs)to make your car faster and putting a restrictor plate/governor on it to keep it from going fast.

Our all time leader in wins and our OC alumnus bolted as soon as they could because they know you can't win here.

I doubt he will be LSU's all-time leader in wins.

 

[BeatSC]

He was given an offense with a lot of holes, I'm not sure what you expect when over half the offense is freshmen and sophomores the previous two seasons. We probably should have lost more games. The QB position is on him a bit, but there's no way to know for sure how much of a finger BK had on the recruiting there. Rees was pretty good at turning lemons into lemonade, he did a decent job minimizing our limitations. Once BK was out of the picture he landed Minchey, Carr, and Hartman. You'd be hard pressed to land a better trio in a matter of months. Between Rees and Freeman they brought a lot of young talent in for 2023. It's clear Rees built this offense for a great 2023 run, and we had all kinds of talent with one of the most experienced groups in all CFB this year as we hung 60 on the cupcakes...but Parker absolutely blew it in the big games.

Rees did quite well with an Alabama offense this year that had no clear answer at QB in the spring and they looked like shit in September. They absolutely carved up Georgia at the end of the game to keep the pressure on and win the SEC Championship. That offense was absolutely electric. A lot of fans wanted him out, but had he stayed another season we could have been playoff bound. Instead Alabama has a chance to backdoor in depending on how far Georgia falls and how many teams Alabama ends up jumping.

I wouldn’t say 300 total yards is electric.

 

[Luckylucci]

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

 

[NDdomer2]

In terms of development Parker gets credit for Mitch Evans. In his time as a coach Rees did not develop anyone.

So Parker > Rees due to Mitch Evans?!?!

 

[IRISHDODGER]

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

And he adjusted to his talent vs forcing his offense on players ill-suited to run it.

 

[ulukinatme]

I wouldn’t say 300 total yards is electric.

They drove down the field when it mattered at the end, and made it look easy. They didn't have to be aggressive when they were ahead all game, but when they had to put the pressure on they finished strong. It's also the 2nd most points anyone has scored on Georgia since they started their 29 game win streak.

 

[thekid33]

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.

 

[stlnd01]

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

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.

 

[greyhammer90]

He was given an offense with a lot of holes, I'm not sure what you expect when over half the offense is freshmen and sophomores the previous two seasons. We probably should have lost more games. The QB position is on him a bit, but there's no way to know for sure how much of a finger BK had on the recruiting there. Rees was pretty good at turning lemons into lemonade, he did a decent job minimizing our limitations. Once BK was out of the picture he landed Minchey, Carr, and Hartman. You'd be hard pressed to land a better trio in a matter of months. Between Rees and Freeman they brought a lot of young talent in for 2023. It's clear Rees built this offense for a great 2023 run, and we had all kinds of talent with one of the most experienced groups in all CFB this year as we hung 60 on the cupcakes...but Parker absolutely blew it in the big games.

Rees did quite well with an Alabama offense this year that had no clear answer at QB in the spring and they looked like shit in September. They absolutely carved up Georgia at the end of the game to keep the pressure on and win the SEC Championship. That offense was absolutely electric. A lot of fans wanted him out, but had he stayed another season we could have been playoff bound. Instead Alabama has a chance to backdoor in depending on how far Georgia falls and how many teams Alabama ends up jumping.

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.

 

[Armyirish47]

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.

2020: South Florida (0-7) 52 points, Duke (1-9) only 27, Syracuse (1-9) 45, Florida State (2-6) 42, Louisville (3-7) only 12 ?!?!?!. Last 2 games scored 10 and 14 against Clemson and Bama. They might have been good though, hard to say.

2021: Georgia Tech (3-9), Stanford (3-9), USC (4-8), Navy (4-8). Best two teams were Cincinnati we scored 13, and Wisconsin which had a kick return and two int returns soooo lol?

2022: We played some tomato cans, we had some stinkers. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The moral of the story is of course that every team gets to rack up points on cupcakes and good teams are opportunistic. It's ok to step back from the ledge and admit the offense this season wasn't an aBoMiNaTIon?!?!?! WARGARBL!!! But it also wasn't good enough for the program to be where we want it. Which is basically where we were when El Tommerino was the OC.

 

[thekid33]

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.

I don't even know if I actually think we would be better off long term if they had hired him. I think this year would have been better, but beyond that who can really say? It's interesting as a hypothetical though.