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On Tuesday Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly promoted quarterback coach, Tommy Rees to offensive coordinator. Not too long ago, 27-year-old Rees was wearing blue and gold in the House That Rockne Built.
At the end of the 2019 regular season, Kelly fired Chip Long and put Rees as interim offensive coordinator for the Camping World Bowl on Dec. 28. The Irish stole the show with a 33-6 win over Iowa State. A good start for Rees.
Rees’ QB Career
Before winning the starting QB position over Dayne Crist in 2011, Rees played in a total of nine games and started four games as a true freshman during the 2010 season. Rees finished the 2011 season throwing for 2,871 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions with a 65.5 completion percentage.
Rees lost his starting role to Everett Golson in 2012 who led a perfect season and the Irish advanced to the BCS title game—a game zero Irish fans want to remember. Rees took control over QB again in 2013 when Goldson was suspended for poor academic judgment. Notre Dame went 9-4 and Rees finished his college career with 7.351 yards, 61 touchdowns and 37 interceptions with a 59.9 completion percentage. He still holds the career record for passing completion percentage among all Notre Dame quarterbacks.
After College
When Rees’ playing days concluded, he took a graduate assistant coaching position at Northwestern and went 10-3 that season. Rees landed his next job as an offensive assistant for the San Diego Chargers and worked with a few other Irish alumni. He then went back to his alma mater where he has spent the last three seasons at quarterback coach.
With Tommy Rees coaching Ian Book at QB for Notre Dame, the Irish have gone 33-6 the last three seasons. Also, Book set the program record by completing 68.2 of his passes and became the first to pass over 3,000 yards and rush for 500 at Notre Dame.
The 2020 Irish Schedule with Rees at OC
Rees has a “not too shabby” resume for a 27-year-old, but having him take over the offensive coordinator position when Notre Dame has the roster and schedule that could lead to a national title at the tips of their fingers is…a lot. Rees clearly has the football knowledge, but one thing he lacks is coaching experience. He has an entire offseason to learn from those experienced around him and the opportunity to lean on Kelly for advice and answers. And he has positive reinforcements from Quenton Nelson, Kirk Herbstreit and most importantly, players on the team.
Now, let’s take a look at the schedule. Notre Dame is projected a top-15 team and will kick off next season in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29 against Navy and their triple-option offense. which should be a fairly easy win for the Irish.
Week 0 – vs Navy (Dublin, Ireland) – 8/29
Week 1 – Bye Week – 9/5
Week 2 – vs Arkansas – 9/12
Week 3 – vs Western Michigan – 9/19
Week 4 – At Wake Forest (Charlotte, NC) – 9/26
Week 5 – At Wisconsin (Green Bay) – 10/3
Week 6 – vs Stanford – 10/10
Week 7 – At Pittsburgh – 10/17
Week 8 – Bye Week – 10/24
Week 9 – vs Duke – 10/31
Week 10 – vs Clemson – 11/7
Week 11 – At Georgia Tech (Atlanta/Mercedes Benz Stadium) – 11/14
Week 12 – vs Louisville – 11/21
Week 13 – At USC – 11/28
A bye week after Dublin is a good idea to give the team a chance to recuperate after a week in Ireland. The Irish will then host Arkansas and Western Michigan at home. It gets tough at week 4 against Wisconsin who almost won the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame will play the Badgers at Lambeau Field most likely under the lights. At week 6 the Irish have a home-field advantage against Stanford which is good, because the Cardinals regardless of their 2019 season, are always a tough opponent.
There are six ACC games this season: Wake Forest, Pitt, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Clemson.
Wake Forest will be played at the Carolina Panther’s stadium which, just like Wisconsin, will be considered a home game for Wake. Pitt will also host in an NFL stadium, Heinz Field, but Notre Dame knows that stadium pretty well. Duke should be a cakewalk for the Irish just as it was the last season ending with a 38-8 win. Louisville, who Notre Dame began the 2019 season with and scored 0 touchdowns in the first half against, will be a home game and is projected to be a lot better this year.
In yet another NFL stadium, the Irish will take on Georgia Tech and Mercedez Benz Stadium in Atlanta instead of the Yellow Jacket’s home field. The Yellow Jackets definitely aren’t the worst team in CFB with their offense, but the Irish should still head back to South Bend with a win.
The ACC team that will be a threat to the Irish is Clemson who will be returning with Heisman hopeful Trevor Lawrence. We all just want to see a good game here. It’s doable, but after four trips to the National Championship in the last 5 years, Notre Dame will need to prepare for this one early. It’s also already the highest priced ticket for the 2020 CFB season.
Notre Dame ends the season against their long-time rival, USC. USC showed a lack of change from 2018 and is expected to look the same for 2019, but this game is always one Notre Dame needs to always come ready for.
A 10-2 season won’t be enough. Coach Rees, fans everywhere are counting on you.
It’s TOMMY
There has been a big debate across social media for coaches, players, fans, and even news outlets to call Rees “Tom” or “Tommy.” Fans have known him for years as Tommy. Thank goodness Rees put it all to rest with a simple tweet:
Tommy
End of debate.
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Notre Dame Football Names New Offensive Coordinator