Until recently, my views on Tommy Rees were complicated.
Loved him as a player, believe it or not; something about a no-talent, unathletic kid wearing #11 resonated with me (as certain readers may recall, I also donned the double ones as the 9th man(1) for St. – – – – – – of – – – – -’s A Team in 2009), in addition to the several times he bailed out the 2012 team with zero emotion on his face. Perhaps because of this history, I also had a soft spot for him as a coach. In an industry of type A snake oil salesmen (not Marcus, of course, but the Dabos and Jimbos of the world), his lack of charisma presence or energy(2) was actually kind of endearing (I mean this sincerely). The Do Your Fucking Job incident was also fun.
But holy hell were there some ugly things about his tenure. He was the QB’s coach for six years and produced zero game changers at QB (if your counter to this point is Ian Book – what are we even doing here). Over the three years he’s also been OC, ND lost eight games, six of which were emphatically the offense’s fault. This is where the football intelligentsia will say “no, no Ken you’ve got it all wrong; he’s a brilliant play-caller, his players just suck,” but a couple thoughts on that.
- Making sure the players don’t suck is kind of his Fucking Job. He had plenty of time to build a roster.
- Put that aside, the elites might say. “He won’t have that problem at Bama, and recruiting isn’t a thing in the NFL, for which he’s destined. Watch how good he schemes it up now.” Sure, fine. But does an offensive savant under any circumstances put up 14 net points and 14 gross points against Marshall and Stanford, respectively, as Thom did in 2022? We’ve seen the kid get absolutely body bagged intellectually several times (see second halves of Navy 22 and OK State Fiesta Bowl) against opponents with far less talent(3). He got to make the offense in his image and likeness this season, and the team fell flat on its face as a result.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish he was staying this year. For the first time since 2015, the ingredients for an elite offense – stud QB in Sam Hartman (whose matriculation is perhaps Tommy’s finest accomplishment) playing behind a ferocious offensive line(4) – are in place. I would’ve loved to see the guy put his name on it and prove me/the haters wrong. But given that no one, including Hartman, seems to be following the guy (why would they?), I’m not too worried about it. There is zero doubt in my mind that ND can do better at OC. Let the big brains in the NFL have Reesus; time to bring an Elko/Lea/Freeman(5) equivalent to South Bend.
So while I’m not concerned about the football implications here, I will say I’m bothered by how scummy this all is. Tommy doesn’t owe anything to me or Jack Swarbrick or even (it pains me to say) Marcus Freeman. But he does to Sam Hartman. He does to every kid he pressured into coming to Notre Dame. They say it’s a business, but it’s a business built on the backs of teenagers. His value as a coach is in large part predicated on his ability to influence kids as they make the biggest decision of their lives. I realize that promotion and relocation are natural parts of coaching. However… Tommy is lateraling OC jobs between two top-end programs. Notre Dame pays him millions of dollars a year, so we’re far beyond the point of “he has to do what’s best for him.” Had he jumped to the NFL, I think we’d all say that’s cool, that’s a step up. That’s where all CFB players want to end up too. But Tommy has spent six years telling kids to come to South Bend instead of Tuscaloosa. To sign a recruiting class then immediately hop on Air George Wallace to join Bama – the program whose ethos is (I say this dispassionately) the antithesis of how ND markets itself; the team that kicked his ass in the 2012 championship and embarrassed him as a coach in the 2020 playoffs – feels extremely scummy and extremely manipulative and cowardly and I don’t like it.
So in summary, my views on Rees are less complicated now. Fuck that MFer, to quote one of his favorite films. But I will wrap up by saying thank you Tommy. For bailing us out against Purdue in 2012 (sincerely). For, uh, securing commitments from Brandon Clark, Drew Pyne, Tyler Buchner, and Steve Angeli (insincerely). And most importantly, for giving me a reason to break out the typewriter in February. Feels good.
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Note: these footnotes are even more meandering than usual, I wouldn’t bother reading.
(1) Pretty sure I was the 9th man – I can think of three guys who played even less than me, and I assume there were 12 guys on the team – but would love it if one of our readers could confirm. Fun fact: that team knocked Flay out of a game by breaking his hand in what was, at least at the time, the biggest win in program history.
(2) FFS this was his big “IM NOT LEAVING” moment last year. Chills.
(3) A quick, somewhat contradictory aside. A lot of Rees haters like to cite individual play calls as evidence for him being a bad play caller, but that’s not me. Rees is not Jack Nash but there’s a lot of game theory involved in play calling. You can’t call plays that play to your strengths every down, and sometimes the opposing DC just sniffs you out. It happens here and there, I don’t judge. But getting blanked in a 2nd half by the USNA means it happened like 40 consecutive times, in which case I do judge.
(4) We can thank Jeff Quinn for this. Harry Hiestand may be a better OLine coach, but that doesn’t mean Quinn was a bad one.
(5) This run of DCs is extremely impressive and underappreciated. Three consecutive home runs at DC, all of whom are now P5 head coaches. Tip of the cap to Kelly, while also underscoring how the offense has been the problem during Rees’ tenure.
Random thought to prove that I can be critical of Marcus: TRees wasn’t the only guy lateraling to a powerhouse this week. James Laurinaitis, previously a high-profile GA at ND, took an equivalent job at his alma mater, OSU. This was 100% inevitable, and good for him. Frankly, it’s always nice when folks show loyalty to their roots. However, there is no reason JL should’ve been a prominent part of the recruitment of any linebackers, as has been reported. The guy was always going to end up back in Columbus, and Marcus should’ve known better.
One more note: Bill Rees, Tom’s father, is employed by Notre Dame as its chief scout. It has been reported that Bill was influential in coordinating Tommy to Alabama. Helping a competitor poach one of your company’s top executives is scummy and extremely unethical. Turns out he was the impenitent thief by Reesus’(i) side; send him straight to Golgotha.
(i) if it wasn’t clear, I did not coin “Reesus.” But it’s been good fun, and I’ll miss the jokes:
