NBC Sports’s Keith Arnold tweeted yesterday that Tommy Rees will soon join the Notre Dame staff.
Not official, but imminent: Multiple sources tell me that Tommy Rees is returning to Notre Dame to coach quarterbacks.
— Keith Arnold (@KeithArnold) January 2, 2017
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.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Interesting situation if it happens and it’s sounding more and more likely. My biggest concern is the lack of seasoning as a coach. Much of the vitriol being spewed seems to focus on his qualifications to coach based on his time as a player.
It would be an interesting exercise to name the coaches to be in the top 10 in their profession both pro and college. Heck, you could expand to top OCs and DCs at each level, too. How many of them were All American (college) or All Pro (NFL) players at any point in time? Very very few.
Heck, how many were bench warmers in their playing days? I’d guess most of them.
Yeah, I think the main takeaway is that there’s very little correlation in any direction: whether they played or didn’t, or were awesome or weren’t, or what position they played, or whatever. There are traits that make someone a good coach, and they exist regardless of what your playing background is.
Looking at some of the big guys:
That’s a pretty decent spectrum from cup of coffee to top performer.
Great look. I was going to comment after reading the article that I’m totally dismissive of the “Rees will fail as a QB coach because he wasn’t a mobile player, therefore won’t be good coaching mobile QB’s” narrative, that’s just dumb. Guys like Saban can coach a defense despite not being good enough to play the position that well themselves. Rees totally could be a better teacher than actually doing it. After all, dumbing it down but it’s a lot easier to tell Wimbush to run than be able to run himself.
Rees seems to be a smart guy, student of the game, knows the ND grind and Kelly very well. I would have pretty high hopes for him as a QB coach, even at the ripe age of 24. He’s been groomed to be a coach for a long time and it’s not like he’s calling plays. Feel like it’s not the worst thing in the world to have a younger coach in such a role.
As mentioned below, there’s probably no candidate that ND could hire that the angry-portion of the fanbase wouldn’t pick apart, so whatevs. It will be interesting to see if he ends up one of the 9 position coaches or a glorified GA (in a QB coach-like role). Given how closely CBK works with his QB1, I would just assume not use a spot on an official QB-coach if the spots are too limited and the needs for other position coaches are more glaring. But, then again, the QB position is so focused on and crucial to the team that I’m not going to get up-in-arms if they want to allocate the most resources possible to make sure they get the best staff possible.
“I would have pretty high hopes for him as a QB coach, even at the ripe age of 24. He’s been groomed to be a coach for a long time and it’s not like he’s calling plays. Feel like it’s not the worst thing in the world to have a younger coach in such a role.” So relooking this, I thought about “young” coaches who played as QBs, and did some googling: I used this article from last off season on the WWL to find HC’s who played QB: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/14927022/ranking-fbs-college-football-coaches-players-1-129 Also, I’m not going to give the whole career for guys with long careers, just how long it took them to get “established”–ie, reach OC level or so. Most of those guys, you’ll know the rest of the story anyway. Ryan Gosling Kliff Kingsbury (37) played his last season at Texas Tech in 2002, bounced around NFL/WLAF/CFL until 2007. Started at Houston as an Offensive quality control analyst in 2008 (age 29). Co-OC/QB coach at Houston in 2009 (30). Moved to same job (without the “co”) at Texas A&M in 2o12 (33) coaching Johnny Footbaw to a Heisman. HC at Texas Tech from 2013 (34). Chris Creighton (current HC at Eastern Michigan) was the OC (91-92) at Concordia College (IL) the year after graduating from being QB at Kenyon College (89-90). Also, served as a player/coach for a Swedish team in 1993, taking it to a national title. Mike Jinks (Bowling Green HC) finished his college career in 1993, then worked his way up from HS QB coach to HS OC to HS HC in 2005, then RB coach in 2013-15 before a HC gig this past year. Mark Whipple (UMASS) played at Brown 1976-79, then was an “assistant” for a year before taking OC duties at Union 1981-82. Bounced around other assistant jobs then OC at New Hampshire 86-87 before a HC job (New Haven) in 1988. Mark Helfrich played 1992-95 at Southern Oregon, was RB coach at Southern Oregon in 1996, then a GA at Oregon in 1997, also OC for Vienna Vikings in 1997, then Boise State QB coach in 1998 at age 24. (SO WHAT I’M SAYING IS THAT TOMMY REES IS GONNA COACH OREGON AND THEN GET FIRED) Chris Petersen (Washington) was UC Davis QB 85-86, then coached UC Davis Freshman team in 87-88, UC Davis WR in 89-91, then QB coach at Pittsburgh 1992 (age 27) , Portland State 1993-94, Oregon WR 1995-2000, Boise State OC 2001-2005. James Franklin (Penn State) played QB 1991-1994 at East Stroudsburg. First position coach job was 1995 at Kutztown as WR coach, bounced positions for years until OC/QB coach at Kansas State 2006-07 (34). Bobby Wilder (Old Dominion) was a position coach in 1990 (RB, Maine) after being QB at Maine 83-86. Scott Satterfield (App State) was the App State QB from 91-95; first was WR coach at App State in 98 (26), QB coach at App State from 2003-08, Toledo 09, OC at FIU 10-11, App St… Read more »
Get a job!
the lengths I’ll go to to put off working on my term papers just a little bit longer…
I think I need to know more about this.
From the Wikis:
Also:
http://limhamn-griffins.com/
Mods, just delete this one, I guess.
For some reason my response is “awaiting moderation” so here it goes again:
From the Wikis:
Very nice list.
As a fan of Rees, this pleases me.
Great analysis. Let’s hope he’s the 10th coach equivalent and everyone can be happy.
Totally agree with your write up Brendan. I was embarrassed by his treatment from some of the fans. At this point in time there is a segment of the fan base (right or wrong) that would criticize Kelly if he hired Clements, Montana, or a younger Johnny Lujack.
I see it as a calculated risk, and wish him success in his career no matter where he ends up.
I wasn’t a big Rees supporter but he did the best he could as a number of more talented guys left or fell apart around him. As was discussed in the other post, its always good to have grads move up the coaching ranks so I’d love to see him succeed at ND or elsewhere.
My problem with him being the QB coach on a 9 man staff is who coaches the WRs? perhaps Polian picks up TE and Long slides over the WRs or Polian picks up WRs, where he has never coached. But we NEED a position coach there. Given Kelly’s involvement with the QBs, we don’t necessarily need one there.
We’re down to 4 weeks left in recruiting for this season. This class could use 3-4 more players. It can’t be helping that ND doesn’t have a full staff.
Yea you are right. when did the dead-period end? It must be about now, no?
The dead period ends January 12th. Elko will be on campus in a couple of days, so we should get clarity of the defensive side very quickly.
Ok so we aren’t losing any ground yet. Need to have the coaching staff in place in a week.
I think there are 4-5 guys coming on individual recruiting visits later in January. That should help a little, I think. Antjuan Simmons and Michael Smith (the unranked WR who blew up this season) are on the list for different days.
Not to steal too much thunder from the Big Board crew, but…
Antjuan Simmons (LB/#318 overall), Evan Fields (S/#687), and Michael Smith (WR/NR) have scheduled an official visit for Jan. 20th, as has Drew White.
Ellis Brooks (LB/#326) and Jason Pinnock (CB/NR, BC commit) have scheduled an OV for Jan. 27th.
We’re under consideration for officials from Jarez Parks (DE/#52), Ryan Johnson (DE/#216), and Connor Wedington (S/#210) as well. They’re probably all long shots, but still, all have talked about a potential OV and each would be a tremendous addition.
Thanks for the info Brendan.
It’s risky, arguably more so for Rees.
I don’t like to judge even seasoned coaches before they get to work at Notre Dame and show what they can do. When Rees’ career was over I’ll admit I was like:
That was based mostly on Rees being a lightning rod while playing for the Irish. I remember thinking and saying if he were to come back as a coach in some capacity I hope it’d be much further down the road. Like, at least 10 years. Truthfully, only a couple years away feels crazy to me.
I can see why Kelly would want Rees, or why the relationship would work well in some cases. I think you have to trust Kelly’s comments from years ago about Rees’ understanding of the game. Factor in Kelly’s probably taking up most of the work with the QB’s and, well, I guess that both makes me feel fine about it but also kinda of like we’re all working under the assumption that this position for coaching doesn’t matter too much. That doesn’t make me feel great, either.
If you’re coming in at 24 years old you’d better be a great recruiter. I don’t see that type of personality from Rees which bugs me. Sure, he can sell his experience and all that but I have a hard time seeing him as a lead recruiter convincing big recruits that aren’t “in Notre Dame’s aisle” so to speak.
Most of all, if I’m Rees why come back under these circumstances? Familiarity? Love for the school? I can see if those are two overriding factors. But, he’s also (possibly) coming back for a one year stint if you’re being pessimistic. The pressure is on big time, doubly so to make Wimbush into a very good quarterback right away. If there are a handful of losses and the QB play isn’t up to expectations…Rees is going to get slammed rightly or wrongly.
I just don’t see much value in coming back if I’m him right now. Gaining more diverse experience elsewhere, particularly in a situation where you feel like you could stay for 2-3 years, feels like a better resume builder than coming back to South Bend to be on Kelly’s leash.
Actually getting the “coach” label, which seems fairly likely to be the case, could be a good breakthrough for him. Does anyone become an actual position coach then go back down to GA or those special assistant NFL positions? I would actually think “QB coach at ND” is a better stepping stone than anything he’s been doing or was likely to be doing in the next couple of years.
Plus, he’s likely to get direct credit for a good season from Wimbush, which seems like a pretty good talent to hitch your wagon to, rather than a much more nebulous “offensive assistant” position. I think it’s actually a good gamble on his part.
Also, the head coach he worked for just got fired, so he’s probably unemployed right now anyway, which may well be the only relevant factor here.
Yeah, the whole fired with everyone else at the Chargers probably plays a factor.
Isn’t this just another way of saying he’s under-qualified?
Definitely. But from his stand-point, if you get an offer for a job that’s punching above your weight class, wouldn’t you take it? I’m just saying, from his point of view, I totally get why he would take it.
What Eric said as far as the difficulties Reese would face with this decision.
Well, actually . . .
Rees seems like a solid guy, but not a football coach at this level by any means. Eric’s comments about the risks to TR personally ring true. He was booed as a player, and if he were to be the qb coach (which would stun me) poor play by the qb (whoever that is these days) would rain hell down on him.
bigger picture is we already have two former ND players as position coaches, neither of which has blown any doors off, and none of the new guys coming in is the proven star many assumed we could hire at either coordinator position. It’s a ” meh” staff still IMO.
by the way, Brendan, I liked your reactions to the hate posts. Seems like there’s a lot of craziness going around these days, on many fronts.
meanwhile, the best gift of the holiday season was seeing tOSU get blown up and the big 10 destroyed in the bowls.
I’m the author of the fist two astoundingly vitriolic tweets included in your write-up. The tweets were a response to Arnold’s report that, to me, seemed to indicate Tommy Rees would be headed to ND to be its QB Coach. Admittedly, his tweet could indicate that he would be coming back as a GA or in some similar capacity. I would be all for that. I should have read Arnold’s tweet more carefully.
On the flip side, if Rees is brought back to fill out a spot on the coaching staff (regardless of whether 9 or 10 coaches may be employed), then I maintain that it would be an indefensible move. There is certainly no shortage of more proven, lower risk candidates that could be brought in. It would be a move made by someone that is more interested in surrounding himself with yes-men than the very best coaches that he can find.
I hope Tommy Rees has a wildly successful coaching career. He seems to be well-suited for coaching, but at this stage of his career it would be foolish to employ him as a full-fledged assistant at the caliber of program ND should aspire to be.
I’m personally not sure sure how “indefensible” it would be. I have never seen Rees portrayed as a “yes man,” so I’m not sure how that should influence the decision. That said, a lower level assistant probably should do whatever the head coach asks of him without causing too much friction, so I’m not sure having a yes-man is a bad thing for this situation. There is also no other candidate that has 4+ years prior experience with Kelly’s scheme/techniques/etc. If ultimately the goal is passing on the techniques Kelly wants taught to young players who do not yet have experience in the system…I don’t see how Rees is particularly controversial.
That said, I don’t know that Rees would be an effective coach, but to say it’s an indefensible move is pure bluster.
Idocd, right on target. I always get a kick out of guys that act like they’ve been on the field, in the film room or even have had 2 minutes real life experience when they express their bombastic opinions.
Tommy Rees was a multi year starter at ND, while being one of the least athletically gifted QBs we’ve seen. He got by using his football IQ. Perhaps he has the ability share that IQ with younger players or maybe not. Certainly someone who’s spent multiple seasons working with Rees (ie Kelly), would have a better knowledge of Rees coaching talents and instincts than some guy behind a keyboard, who’s never even met either of them.
If Kelly is looking for someone to work with 3-4 players, who knows exactly how Kelly wants things done from day one. Who won’t have different notions or an ego that needs to be squelched. Might not Rees be what he’s looking for? I don’t know the answer but, it’s certainly plausible.
Couldn’t the person that you described in your final paragraph be described as a “yes-man”? God forbid Kelly hire someone that might have different ideas or coaching styles than himself. It’s not incumbent on that person to revolutionize the entire offense. Given the poor track record of QB development during Kelly’s tenure, I don’t see understand the argument that more of the same is a step in the right direction. DeShone Kizer is the obvious counterpoint to my comment, but I have read in numerous times about how much Mike Sanford had to do with his development in 2015. Mike Sanford is the type of candidate that should be pursued.
I feel rather neutral about this, but in regards to your last statement, that’s true, a Mike Sanford type candidate is what we need–at OC. If there’s a separate QB coach, I don’t really mind if he’s there specifically to teach what Kelly wants. The question in my mind isn’t about Rees being the right hire, it’s Long–will he stand up and tell Kelly that throwing downfield in a hurricane is a bad idea? If he won’t, then he’s a yes man and not what I (and probably you) were hoping for. If it takes the 24-year old QB coach to raise his hand and make that point, we’re screwed whether or not Rees or anyone else is the guy.
Kelly also hired and maintained Brian VanGorder, so his decision making is not above reproach.
In addition, Rees got by as an unathletic QB by throwing to a couple of future NFL players. He was a sub-MAC level talent with turnover issues who was only bailed out by the rest of the team.
But but but!!! Student of the game! Gym rat! Coach’s son!!
The typical line on Rees is that he knew Kelly’s offense inside and out, made all the right reads, etc., but didn’t have the physical talent to actually make the plays on the field. If the QB coach is basically a tutor while the QB studies the playbook, helps him in the film room talk through reading coverages, etc., then I think Rees would be perfectly fine. If the QB coach is supposed to teach mechanics and footwork and the read-option and help design game plans, I don’t think Thomas Rees, at this stage, is that guy.
Indefensible is bluster, but so is saying that his hiring wouldn’t be controversial. He’s not really qualified to be the QB coach at Notre Dame yet. He’s 24. He was a lightning rod as the QB. His hiring as the QB coach taking up one of the nine allowed coaching spots would be controversial, and deservedly so.
I’m not saying it couldn’t be controversial at all…I just don’t think it’s any worse than Long. That decision being singled out as the WORST HIRE EVAH is probably not realistic. He may end up as a horrible choice, but I can see the reasoning behind it.
In addition to KG’s excellent list above, I’ll throw out that Mike Sanford was 24 years old when he was the QB coach at Stanford in 2007. And for all the splitting hairs Rees will be 25 before the season starts, which as we’ve learned above, that’s not exactly wildly young for a QB coach at even a big-time program.
I don’t disagree that it would seem controversial if he takes up one of the 9 limited coaching spots, but I see that as overblown. Kelly has his guys like Hudson and Quinn and Elliott as “analysts” and “special assistants” and “assistant strength and conditioning coaches” that it’s just semantics in the big picture. Seems like the only controversy is just for people who want a reason to get upset that a largely unpopular coach is in bringing in a polarizing figure in for a fairly minor job, in the big scheme of things.
First off, thanks very much for stepping in here, and doing so with a very reasoned comment. Much appreciated. Also, in your defense, Keith’s tweet wasn’t exactly clear to begin with and could easily be interpreted as meaning that Rees was being hired as the QB coach.
Now, with that out of the way… I think “indefensible” is a stretch, but I take more issue with “a man ambivalent about success.” I don’t think it’s fair to Kelly to ignore every other very non-ambivalent thing that he has done this offseason and hone in on the hiring of Rees as a reason to fire him and Swarbrick. He fired his long-time friend as DC and brought in one of the brightest younger DCs in the country, in a guy that has no connections to him. He demoted his long-time friend as OC, declined to un-demote him when his departure was imminent, and brought in a lesser-known but still well-regarded young guy as OC, who has no connections to him. He fired his long-time friend as S&C coach and, if recent rumor and analyst tip-toeing is to be believed, is about to make a big splash hire that will make people very happy, again with a guy who has no previous connection to him.
Kelly relies on his “three coordinator” model to run his program, as he has noted in the past, and he’s replacing all three coordinators this offseason with highly-regarded guys who have no previous connection to him. He also hired Polian as a fully-dedicated special teams coach, which I’m pretty sure is a first in his coaching career. Look, I’m not in love with the guy, and while I’m fine with bringing him back for 2017 on a short leash I wouldn’t have argued with firing him either. But I don’t think you can look at all the moves he has made so far in this offseason and conclude that he’s ambivalent about success.
BTW – lots of stuff flying around now about the last couple of spots – here’s a recap of the staff situation:
The CB/S responsibility split between Lyght and Elko is my assumption, given Elko’s position specialty is safeties and has been throughout his career. Lyght might keep the secondary coach title, but I’d expect Elko to be highly involved with the safeties.
Who’s the rumored strength coach that everyone will love?
Hulk Hogan
It really is a new world order.
I heard that Rudy was coming back for that spot . . .
. . . and he was bringing the protein thakes.
http://irish.nbcsports.com/2017/01/06/report-matt-balis-set-to-become-new-irish-strength-coach/
Matt Balis.
I for one do NOT love this hire. I wanted the Hulkster.
It’s very intriguing the obvious increasing ties to IMG as the assistant director. That plus the rumored spring practices to be held down in sunny Florida definitely show an effort to increase the pipeline, can’t be a bad thing right?