NBC Sports’s Keith Arnold tweeted yesterday that Tommy Rees will soon join the Notre Dame staff.

The South Bend Tribune’s Mike Vorel later tweeted comments from Rees saying that nothing was in motion, calling it “news to me.” Arnold stood by his story, though, and caught an immeasurable amount of grief on Twitter about it. Since Keith’s tweet, we’ve heard through the grapevine as well that Rees will be on staff next year; most likely he’ll be a GA, unless the NCAA approves the 10th position coach slot sooner than expected. Whatever his business card says, though, his responsibilities will likely be the same. The Irish fan base, in what has been a recurring theme this offseason, seems sharply split on the potential hire; some view it as a very positive move, while some think it’s pure idiocy and another log on the dumpster fire. The level of vitriol in some of the negative comments is truly astounding, especially because much of it is directed at Rees personally. I won’t embed the tweets here because my purpose isn’t to call individuals out, but just to give you an idea of how vociferous some of the reaction is:

This would be the action of a man ambivalent about success. #firekelly #fireswarbrick

Rees may very well turn into an excellent coach one day. BK counting on that happening next year is indefensible.

Hahahahahahaha! What a complete

[poop]show.

BK said he’d make a good coach someday. I just assumed it would be at his old High School.

how is he going to coach mobile qb’s?

Jarious Jackson would be more qualified coaching mobile QBs. Tommy would be good for defenses loading the box.

guess nd qbs will be exceptional at throwing interceptions next year

tell me you are joking Keith

Kelly is sticking it to us now! Totally sticking it to us!

“A man ambivalent about success”? A man who fired one very old friend in Brian VanGorder, demoted two more in Mike Denbrock and Paul Longo, passed over another for promotion in Mike Elston, in all likelihood declined to protect yet another in Keith Gilmore, and brought in a guy he had originally dismissed when he took over in South Bend is ambivalent about success? Because he’s bringing in a former player as a GA/entry-level coach? “Totally sticking it to us”? Really? And the personal shots are absurd. I didn’t like the way many Irish fans treated Rees during his playing career, and I don’t like the very personal angle many have taken in response to this news. He’s a good kid, a smart kid, a kid who did everything asked of him and made every sacrifice for the good of the team without so much as a peep. Yeah, he was in over his head as QB1 of Notre Dame, but that wasn’t his fault. He squeezed much more out of his natural talent than anyone had any right to expect.

Anyway… Let’s dig deeper than the initial visceral reactions to check into the case for and against adding Tommy Rees to the Irish staff.

The Case Against Rees

  • He’s young. This, to me, is by far the most valid complaint, particularly if he’s being brought in as a full-fledged position coach on a nine-man staff. He’s only 24 and just three years removed from his days playing under the Dome; if you’re looking for a seasoned coach, he’s not the guy.
  • He hasn’t held an official coaching position. Closely tied to being young, of course, but it’s worth noting separately that Rees hasn’t yet held an actual coaching position. He tried in vain to catch on with the Redskins after graduation, unable to make it through rookie camp. After taking a few months away from football he joined Northwestern, where his father once coached, as a GA. From there he headed to the San Diego Chargers for a year as an offensive analyst. If Kelly hires him as a position coach, it will be his first true coaching position.
  • He ran a different offense than Notre Dame’s current quarterbacks will run. Some of the criticisms of the move revolve around his lack of personal experience in a read-option offense, given his less than ideal mobility.
  • He’s too close to Kelly. Some would view this as a “cronyism” hire, or something along those lines, because Rees was Kelly’s guy. They would prefer an outside hire for the slot, which is not an unreasonable stance to take.

The Case For Rees

  • He’s smart. Yes, he’s young, but even so he’s reportedly well-regarded already as an X’s and O’s guy. Some pooh-pooh his analyst position with San Diego on the grounds that his father was a longtime scout (working with the Chiefs, Bears, 49ers, and Browns over 16 years) and perhaps placed a call to get him a job, or that the analyst position doesn’t really do anything serious. Yeah, because NFL teams are in the habit of paying guys to take up space…
  • He won’t be doing this alone. If – and this is a very big if – he actually comes on board as the full-fledged quarterback coach, he’s not going to be left to his own devices. In all likelihood Kelly is going to be heavily involved with the quarterbacks this year; he’ll probably be the de facto QB1 coach, while the quarterback coach will work more closely with the other guys.
  • He knows the pressure of Notre Dame. One of the main reasons Irish fans prefer someone who has already held a particular position elsewhere is that the pressure at Notre Dame is intense – the stage is bigger, the lights are brighter, the expectations are higher. Whether it’s a highly-regarded defensive coordinator stepping into the head coach job, or a seasoned NFL position coach taking over a coordinator position, Notre Dame is not typically the place to do a job for the first time. Tommy Rees, though, is not your typical first-time Notre Dame coach; as an Irish quarterback he spent four years in and out of one of the highest-pressure jobs in American sports. Does that mean there’s no adjustment risk? Of course not. But it mitigates the risk.
  • Criticizing his inability to run is hooey. Many excellent coaches never played at a high level or played within the specific systems that they later teach. So what? Mike Sanford finished his college career with negative rushing yards, but nobody complained about his inability to coach read option due to his own lack of mobility. Chip Kelly’s playing career and his early coaching career was spent on defense, before he made a name for himself as an offensive wizard and generator of huge quarterback rushing totals. Rees isn’t doomed to failure as a spread quarterback coach because he himself couldn’t run.
  • He thoroughly understands what Kelly wants. Rumor has long been that Kelly and Rees had a sort of hive mind – however his physical limitations restricted what the offense could do, Rees just got the Kelly system, similar to how Joe Schmidt just got what VanGorder wanted to do. Rees has also already done substantial work translating Kelly for Everett Golson, which likely was a pretty thankless task. His familiarity with Kelly in this case could enable him to step smoothly into a more formal coaching role for Irish quarterbacks.

To Rees Or Not To Rees?

To me, the larger part of the evaluation of Rees’s hire rests on exactly what he’s being hired for. If he’s the quarterback coach on a nine-man staff, I would also be a little bit concerned about having a green guy in that role. I think he would have a decent shot at success in it, but still, it’s a lot to ask of a young guy. If he’s a GA, or if he’s the tenth man on an expanded staff, I think it’s an absolutely fantastic hire – you get a smart guy with some analytical chops in and let him take the next step in his career in a lower-pressure situation. And maybe, ten years from now, you have an Irish version of Major Applewhite out there somewhere. Not the worst situation to be in.