Tommy Rees - Offensive Coordinator

[GATTACA!]

He isn't a bad play caller. He's actually perfect for the NFL. Tries to be the smartest guy in the room on every play and doesn't stick to what works. Problem is there's little to nothing that works for the Browns so he'll prolly not have that problem.

I don’t really think Kev’s play calling is the issue tbh. He schemes guys open and Gabriel either can’t see them or doesn’t hit them. He had Isaiah Bond wide open for a TD against the Pats and under threw the ball by 20 yards for an INT.

 

[rikkitikki08]

Good on ya Thomas, make ND proud

 

[Ophiocordyceps]

Get some Tommy.

 

[BeatSC]

I thought since he was the OC he he already been calling the plays. Well there is. Other to go but up with that shitty AF offense.

 

[TorontoGold]

I thought since he was the OC he he already been calling the plays. Well there is. Other to go but up with that shitty AF offense.

What is this?

 

[mrmcgrail]

It's nonsense

 

[ulukinatme]

Here's hoping he can do something with the hapless Browns, for their sake and his own career. It's a tall order.

 

[KPENN]

Not something we have to worry about anymore, thankfully.

That hire changes the trajectory of things in multiple ways. Highly likely may not be sitting here with Marcus Freeman as head coach.

I don't get the Tommy hatred about as much as I don't get the man love for Brian Hartline. Probably more so.

What? Hartline had accomplished way more as a position coach than Tommy has as an OC/Position coach.

I don’t even hate Tommy, but he’s a big time nepo hire and quite frankly hasn’t proven to be a consistently good OC yet

 

[IrishSpartan]

I would hate a Tommy HC hire, but I would love the mayhem IE would be. Future food thread.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

What? Hartline had accomplished way more as a position coach than Tommy has as an OC/Position coach.

I don’t even hate Tommy, but he’s a big time nepo hire and quite frankly hasn’t proven to be a consistently good OC yet

Rees was an OC before he was 30. He was an OC for Saban for a year and now he's coaching in the League. He played and coached for Notre Dame and has received undue amounts of hate from Notre Dame fans as both a player and coach.

Brian Hartline has dudes on the internet drooling over him because he recruits high school boys to Ohio State, who has had one down year in the last quarter of a century. He has also coached at one school, which happens to be the same school he played at. We're casting aspersions about nepo hires?

 

[KPENN]

Rees was an OC before he was 30. He was an OC for Saban for a year and now he's coaching in the League. He played and coached for Notre Dame and has received undue amounts of hate from Notre Dame fans as both a player and coach.

I don’t care how old Tommy was, he was not ready to be an OC when he was hired. A lazy move by BK. Brian Hartline got hired by Urban Meyer, or does that not work for him?

Brian Hartline has dudes on the internet drooling over him because he recruits high school boys to Ohio State, who has had one down year in the last quarter of a century. He has also coached at one school, which happens to be the same school he played at. We're casting aspersions about nepo hires?

What? He’s doing his job at an elite level, he’s recruiting well and developing them. Go look at the OSU receiver room/draft picks before and after his hire.

Tommy is a nepo hire because of his dad, not because of coaching at his Alma mater.

 

[IrishLion]

Never forget that Tommy Rees somehow turned out a respectable (nay, above-respectable) offense at ND with DREW FUCKING PYNE at QB, and Michael Mayer as the only credible receiving threat on third downs.

Mayer was elite, and Pyne being at QB is def on Tommy… but that doesn’t discount the fact that everyone in the world knew a below-average QB was targeting Mayer in every gotta-have-it situation, and Tommy STILL schemed Mayer wide open every time they needed it.

Also, Tommy made Jalen Milroe look like a Heisman candidate, and did it while working under Saban’s hyper-critical eye.

If Tommy turning that Pyne offense into something decent, and then making Milroe look great while working under the GOAT doesn’t do it for you, particularly while trying to say Brian Hartline is more “accomplished,” there is no arguing the point further.

 

[Dale]

People that hate Rees are going to hate Rees for some reason till the end of time. I think it’s an odd use of headspace but you do you. Was he a good OC is always simplified into yes or no, the truth is it has multiple parts. I think he was a good, not great recruiter. I think he was an elite play caller. I think he was a poor QB Coach.

 

[KPENN]

People that hate Rees are going to hate Rees for some reason till the end of time. I think it’s an odd use of headspace but you do you. Was he a good OC is always simplified into yes or no, the truth is it has multiple parts. I think he was a good, not great recruiter. I think he was an elite play caller. I think he was a poor QB Coach.

I don’t hate Rees. Lol. I appreciate him as a player and as a coach for ND, I just happen to think he wasn’t a good OC

 

[zelezo vlk]

Never forget that Tommy Rees somehow turned out a respectable (nay, above-respectable) offense at ND with DREW FUCKING PYNE at QB, and Michael Mayer as the only credible receiving threat on third downs.

Mayer was elite, and Pyne being at QB is def on Tommy… but that doesn’t discount the fact that everyone in the world knew a below-average QB was targeting Mayer in every gotta-have-it situation, and Tommy STILL schemed Mayer wide open every time they needed it.

Also, Tommy made Jalen Milroe look like a Heisman candidate, and did it while working under Saban’s hyper-critical eye.

If Tommy turning that Pyne offense into something decent, and then making Milroe look great while working under the GOAT doesn’t do it for you, particularly while trying to say Brian Hartline is more “accomplished,” there is no arguing the point further.

Speaking of Pyne, did anyone else see ESPN put out an article about him yesterday? Dude is at Bowling Green now

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I don’t care how old Tommy was, he was not ready to be an OC when he was hired. A lazy move by BK. Brian Hartline got hired by Urban Meyer, or does that not work for him?



What? He’s doing his job at an elite level, he’s recruiting well and developing them. Go look at the OSU receiver room/draft picks before and after his hire.

Tommy is a nepo hire because of his dad, not because of coaching at his Alma mater.

Meyer hired Hartline because Zach Smith was accused by his wife of multiple instances of domestic violence. Smith was also the grandson of Earle Bruce, Meyer's mentor and former Ohio State head coach.

We want to talk about nepo hires? Nothing says "lazy" like knowing one of your assistants beats his wife and doing jack shit about it. Like everything else, Meyer and Ohio State roll down a hill of shit and smell like roses at the bottom. The result was having this glorious recruiter Brian Hartline as the WR coach. Every scandal ends with them coming out ahead somehow.

My whole point was I don't get why ND fans hate Rees so much but fawn over a guy that is never going to set foot at Notre Dame as an employee of the football program. I hope Hartline gets the Penn State job. Let's see what he can do once and for all.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I didn't like Rees as a player because ND should have had someone significantly more talented and better than him even as a backup. I do appreciate he won a bunch of games and got a lot out of himself at ND.

As a coach, I think he's very smart and a good play caller. I think he's actually a good QB coach but an absolute TERRIBLE QB evaluator.

Brendon Clark
Pyne
Buchner

Those are his 3 recruits main recruits. He probably should get some credit i guess for Angeli/minchey even though they really won't contribute much at ND.

Everyone knew by Clarks, Pynes, Buchners senior year they weren't good enough for different reasons. Now, he was able to get wins out of them and actually have solid offenses shows he can coach IMO, but just can't evaluate.

 

[Dale]

Meyer hired Hartline because Zach Smith was accused by his wife of multiple instances of domestic violence. Smith was also the grandson of Earle Bruce, Meyer's mentor and former Ohio State head coach.

We want to talk about nepo hires? Nothing says "lazy" like knowing one of your assistants beats his wife and doing jack shit about it. Like everything else, Meyer and Ohio State roll down a hill of shit and smell like roses at the bottom. The result was having this glorious recruiter Brian Hartline as the WR coach. Every scandal ends with them coming out ahead somehow.

My whole point was I don't get why ND fans hate Rees so much but fawn over a guy that is never going to set foot at Notre Dame as an employee of the football program. I hope Hartline gets the Penn State job. Let's see what he can do once and for all.

We can’t recognize football coaches that haven’t coached or won’t (according to you) at ND?

 

[NDRock]

I didn't like Rees as a player because ND should have had someone significantly more talented and better than him even as a backup. I do appreciate he won a bunch of games and got a lot out of himself at ND.

As a coach, I think he's very smart and a good play caller. I think he's actually a good QB coach but an absolute TERRIBLE QB evaluator.

Brendon Clark
Pyne
Buchner

Those are his 3 recruits main recruits. He probably should get some credit i guess for Angeli/minchey even though they really won't contribute much at ND.

Everyone knew by Clarks, Pynes, Buchners senior year they weren't good enough for different reasons. Now, he was able to get wins out of them and actually have solid offenses shows he can coach IMO, but just can't evaluate.

I’m absolutely sure there were multiple reasons for poor quarterback recruiting during that time, that goes beyond Tommy, but it’s not a good sign that all those quarterbacks resulted in 10 wins as starters. Not a great run for ND. Thank goodness for the portal.

 

[NDohio]

If he ever becomes head coach of Notre Dame, I'm going dark forever.

I'm talking erase myself from existence and head to Canada as a refugee. I want no part of associating with any of it.

The pant pissing will flood the Internet in ways none of us can fully fathom.

Oh come on - it would t be like that…

Rees was an OC before he was 30. He was an OC for Saban for a year and now he's coaching in the League. He played and coached for Notre Dame and has received undue amounts of hate from Notre Dame fans as both a player and coach.

Brian Hartline has dudes on the internet drooling over him because he recruits high school boys to Ohio State, who has had one down year in the last quarter of a century. He has also coached at one school, which happens to be the same school he played at. We're casting aspersions about nepo hires?

I don’t care how old Tommy was, he was not ready to be an OC when he was hired. A lazy move by BK. Brian Hartline got hired by Urban Meyer, or does that not work for him?



What? He’s doing his job at an elite level, he’s recruiting well and developing them. Go look at the OSU receiver room/draft picks before and after his hire.

Tommy is a nepo hire because of his dad, not because of coaching at his Alma mater.

Oh…

 

[greyhammer90]

Out of curiosity, do you guys think Rees was a markedly better play caller than Chip Long while he was here?

I won't pretend to know enough about true high-level football scheme/strategy to grade a coordinator, but I agree that it seemed like Tommy's best quality was playcalling. But when I think back on his time here I dont remember thinking he was a massive upgrade over the last guy in that department. Chip Long is now at Southern Miss and Tommy is calling plays for the Browns. Crazy world.

 

[Dale]

Out of curiosity, do you guys think Rees was a markedly better play caller than Chip Long while he was here?

I won't pretend to know enough about true high-level football scheme/strategy to grade a coordinator, but I agree that it seemed like Tommy's best quality was playcalling. But when I think back on his time here I dont remember thinking he was a massive upgrade over the last guy in that department. Chip Long is now at Southern Miss and Tommy is calling plays for the Browns. Crazy world.

Chip Long would probably be at a higher level on merit, but he’s a dick.

 

[greyhammer90]

Chip Long would probably be at a higher level on merit, but he’s a dick.

Yep, sort of my point. I think Tommy has a good/great football mind, but I think there's a lot of guys who have similar skill sets and don't become young NFL OCs. It's easy to call it nepostim or whatever, but at the end of the day these are jobs and the people who matter seem to like working with Tommy.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

We can’t recognize football coaches that haven’t coached or won’t (according to you) at ND?

Not at all what I said.

 

[Bane]

I liked Tommy well enough and not only is he a former coach here, but he is an alum so I will always root for his success anywhere he goes (unless that's Green Bay, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; or Detroit, Michigan).

He was not the best OC we ever had, but he certainly wasn't the worst. Good to borderline great at times playcaller and gameplan developer, bad to middling recruiter. Better OC than position coach imo.

As for Hartline, the best WR coach in the entire country and it's not close. Does that make him a good OC or potential HC? No, not necessarily, but he is far and away the best WR coach in the nation. People can say "oh it's OSU, they recruit themselves" and they're not wrong but that is way underselling what Hartline has done there. WR U was LSU or for a period, Bama until Hartline got to OSU. If it was so easy to just recruit and develop high level WRs to OSU then someone would have been consistently doing it before he got there. He's elite at scouting and finding high level recruits and then recruiting them to play for him, and then holding up his end of the bargain by developing them and putting them into the first round of the NFL draft where they also go on to produce. I get Jigg seemingly wants to make Hartline into some referendum on morality because of his association with Urban Meyer but Hartline has nothing to do with that.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I liked Tommy well enough and not only is he a former coach here, but he is an alum so I will always root for his success anywhere he goes (unless that's Green Bay, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; or Detroit, Michigan).

He was not the best OC we ever had, but he certainly wasn't the worst. Good to borderline great at times playcaller and gameplan developer, bad to middling recruiter. Better OC than position coach imo.

As for Hartline, the best WR coach in the entire country and it's not close. Does that make him a good OC or potential HC? No, not necessarily, but he is far and away the best WR coach in the nation. People can say "oh it's OSU, they recruit themselves" and they're not wrong but that is way underselling what Hartline has done there. WR U was LSU or for a period, Bama until Hartline got to OSU. If it was so easy to just recruit and develop high level WRs to OSU then someone would have been consistently doing it before he got there. He's elite at scouting and finding high level recruits and then recruiting them to play for him, and then holding up his end of the bargain by developing them and putting them into the first round of the NFL draft where they also go on to produce. I get Jigg seemingly wants to make Hartline into some referendum on morality because of his association with Urban Meyer but Hartline has nothing to do with that.

Nope. Just pointing out how it all came to pass.

 

[Irish#1]

One thing everyone can agree upon. Tommy's name still gets this board stirred up. lol

People can complain about nepo hires all they want, but I would guess the vast majority of coaches in college or the NFL can trace their hire back to someone they knew.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I thought that both Chip Long and Tommy were good+ play callers, but Tommy was better and the more creative,.... sometimes almost bogglingly good. Both actually coached at Notre Dame, so, discussion sort of meaningful, barely. Why anyone would want to gripe about either eludes me. (Well, I do know that answer -- hatred motivates a lot of IE commentators ... stuns me. It's why I am unpopular in my pretty much uniform defense of our ex-warriors.)

As to Hartline: until it seems that he's headed here, why the hell does anyone care to argue about him? No matter how good he is at his job, he's just another damm opponent's coach. I personally think that Vidalia Onions are better at being onions than Hartline is at being a football position coach. When I look at the fact that all they have to work with is dirt, well, game over. ...... oh, sorry, pushed relevancy too far? I've seen an onion which looked like a football.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Offensive coordinator 2020-22

10-2
11-1
9-4

I think some of you may have drowned yourselves in the toilet if you had been Iowa fans.

 

[Free Manera]

I thought since he was the OC he he already been calling the plays. Well there is. Other to go but up with that shitty AF offense.

Is English your first language?