Alabama football OC Tommy Rees uniquely qualified to oversee quarterback battle | Goodbread

Tommy Rees has been here before. Sort of.

Alabama football's new offensive coordinator is the youngest coach on the Crimson Tide staff, and the second-youngest OC in the Southeastern Conference, behind Ole Miss co-OC Charlie Weis Jr. But he's seen plenty in a relatively short coaching career, having worked under Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, and he's not without some experience to draw on when it comes to managing two quarterbacks vying for one job.

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There are plenty of tasks on Rees' plate as Alabama enters its third week of spring practice. But one of the big ones is overseeing a stiff competition, led by third-year sophomore Jalen Milroe and redshirt freshman Ty Simpson, at the game's most important position. And, although he's still just 30, Rees has done this.

In 2018, with Rees in his second season as quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish made a midseason quarterback change from Brandon Wimbush to Ian Book. It couldn't have been easy, as Wimbush had quarterbacked Notre Dame to a 3-0 start.

As Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea saw it, Rees handled the situation with both confidence and empathy as a former Fighting Irish quarterback himself. He had to make sure Book was fit for a spotlight role while still managing to keep Wimbush engaged.

"That was a challenging situation that took a lot of skill, and he had built the relationships to make sure it was handled well," said Lea, now Vanderbilt's head coach. "Tommy got Ian ready for the moment, but he also kept Brandon connected to the mission."

Notre Dame ran the rest of the regular-season table under Book that year and reached the College Football Playoff.

At least for now, the Milroe-Simpson battle is a little different as a spring practice showdown. There's less drama involved in April, even if that doesn't seem possible, than there is with a September quarterback switch. But it's nevertheless a critical battle with no clear leader − coach Nick Saban said Friday that they performed "equally well" in UA's first scrimmage − and one that can ultimately have only one winner. This isn't an heir apparent situation, like it was when Bryce Young took over the offensive reins from Mac Jones in 2021, or when Jones took them from Tua Tagovailoa.

Rees saw it all as a Notre Dame quarterback from 2010-2013.

"He was in difficult situations as a player where he had to be a great teammate, and maybe step in and take over mid-game, or be unseated as a starter. He's had to battle that level of adversity, so he's got a way of using that experience to mentor and guide that room," Lea added.

In other words, Rees has sat in pretty much every seat in the quarterback room. The comfortable ones, the uncomfortable ones, and now, the one up front with the remote.

And that can go a long way when competition makes them all uncomfortable.

Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama OC Rees uniquely qualified to oversee Milroe-Simpson battle