Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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82 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED QUARTERBACKS COACH TOM REES Tom Rees returns to try to pull off another 'save' at Notre Dame BY LOU SOMOGYI O ne career ended for Notre Dame senior starting quarterback Tommy Rees after a 29-16 victory versus Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 28, 2013, but head coach Brian Kelly already had the seeds of a new one germinating for him. "He used to joke all the time, 'I'm going to hire you back,'" Rees recalled shortly after being announced in January as Kelly's new quarterbacks coach. "After the Pinstripe Bowl at his press conference he said, 'I'd hire him in a heartbeat,' and that's something that meant a lot to me. "I didn't know it would be this quick. … Coach has meant a lot to me as a player and as a young man growing to who I am today. Just his trust in the level of comfort he has with me has really spoken volumes to the relationship that we have." Now referred to as "Tom," the 24-year-old Rees is as seasoned a veteran as it gets when it comes to understanding the Notre Dame and Kelly offense, and dealing with peaks and valleys. Limited in mobility, size and arm strength, Rees was an overachiever with his moxie and superior football IQ. Although he started 31 games during his Notre Dame career (23-8 record), Rees was most renowned as the ace relief man: • After a 4-5 start in 2010, the freshman Rees stepped in for the injured Dayne Crist and the Irish surprisingly finished 4-0. • Prior to the 12-0 regular season in 2012, incumbent quarterback Rees was supplanted by the more dynamic redshirt freshman Everett Golson. Yet when Golson strug- gled or was injured, Rees provided clutch play in 11th- hour, game-winning drives versus Purdue and Stanford (in regulation and overtime, respectively), had a steadying hand the final three quarters in the win over Michigan after Golson threw two early interceptions, and started in the 17- 14 win over BYU after trailing 14-7 at halftime. Golson lauded Rees for his unselfishness and in the way he helped instruct him for the better of the team. • With Golson ineligible in 2013, Rees started throughout the 9-4 season en route to the Irish finishing in the Associated Press top 25 in consecutive years for only the second time in the past 20 years (2005-06 the other). It seems apropos for Rees to return to help Kelly and Notre Dame after the throes of a 4-8 season. At most any Power Five conference school, Rees' hire would be a head scratcher because of his limited experience as a coach. At Notre Dame, it is not. "There's nobody better to teach that position than somebody who has done it here at Notre Dame, and he'll be able to mentor our quarterback group in a manner and fashion that nobody else in the country can," Kelly said. Rees served as a graduate assistant at Northwestern in 2015 and was hired as an offensive assistant by the San Diego Chargers last February. His father, Bill, was an esteemed college assistant and recruiting coordinator at UCLA from 1979-93 before working in the NFL a couple of decades. "I knew it was something I wanted to do from a young age," Rees said of coaching. "I had been around the game with my dad coaching and being in personnel. When I was helping Ev out, it came easy. I always had a good understanding of the game, and I always felt like I communicated well with my teammates and can bond with them. "It came natural to me. It's something I wanted to do and it's something I felt I was pretty good at." Until the NCAA passes leg- islation this April that allows for a 10th full-time on-field assistant coach (a move that is expected), Rees will be more of a graduate assistant in waiting. "My role is not going to change regardless of the title," Rees said. "I'm here to coach the quarterbacks. … That's why I came here. I wanted the fulfillment of, 'Hey, I get to meet with those quarterbacks, I get to prepare them, I get to coach them, I get to build that relationship.'" With quarterback the most inexperienced unit on the 2017 team, Rees said he will feel right at home. "It's exciting because I get to start from ground zero," he said. Maybe he can even produce his best save of all at Notre Dame. ✦ Rees was a graduate assistant at Northwestern in 2015 before working for the NFL's San Diego Chargers in 2016. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN RELIEF MAN "HE USED TO JOKE ALL THE TIME, 'I'M GOING TO HIRE YOU BACK.' … I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD BE THIS QUICK." REES ON HEAD COACH BRIAN KELLY