In Tommy Rees, Alabama football adds OC who wishes he'd been pulling guard instead of quarterback

Notre Dame players sat in the locker room about a decade ago when a hypothetical question was asked.

If you could come back in one position other than the one you played, what would it be?

Tommy Rees, then a quarterback for the Fighting Irish, said he would want to be a pulling guard.

“The guy lived with o-linemen, tight ends and linebackers,” teammate Mike Golic Jr. told The Tuscaloosa News. “He wanted to get downhill and bully some people.”

That’s the man who will coordinate Alabama’s offense after Bill O’Brien’s departure for the same job with the New England Patriots.

Rees, who has been Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, likes to run the ball but isn’t locked into only that. As a coordinator, he coaches to the strength of his offensive players. That will be important for an offense at a turning point after losing Heisman-Trophy-winning quarterback Bryce Young, among others.

Chip Long, the Notre Dame offensive coordinator from 2017-19, thinks Rees is up to the task. He called Rees a superstar up-and-coming coach.

“Tommy, if he has to run the ball 55 times to win a game, or if he has to throw it 55 times to win a game, he’ll do it,” Long told The Tuscaloosa News. “He’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”

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‘He wants physical football’

Rees, 30, played quarterback for the Fighting Irish from 2010-13. Later, he became quarterbacks coach for Notre Dame from 2017-19.

With that background, many in South Bend, Indiana, naturally expected Rees’ offense to be more pass-heavy once he replaced Long as offensive coordinator.

Not so fast.

Look no further than a play from the game against UNC in 2020. Rees deployed 14 personnel near the goal line, which meant four tight ends. Yes, four.

“One of the most beautiful images I have ever seen in my life,” said Golic, a former offensive lineman. “That’s the tone he wants to set. He wants physical football.”

That mindset is probably inspired in part by whom he lived with in college. Golic said Rees shared a house with offensive linemen Zack Martin and Chris Watt, tight end Tyler Eifert and linebacker Dan Fox. Martin became an eight-time NFL All-Pro, Eifert a first-round NFL Draft pick, Watt a third-rounder and Fox an undrafted linebacker who joined the New York Giants.

Then there was Rees, the quarterback who had a brief stint in the NFL with Washington.

“He wasn’t always the most talented quarterback, so he had great grit,” said Long, who coached against Rees once. “Tenaciousness to try to find a way to win. He likes to run the ball and he likes to get the guys out running and moving so they can be athletic and hit.”

Seeing the big picture

At Notre Dame, Rees’ offense certainly ran more than passed. The split was 532 rushing attempts to 338 passing attempts in 2022. In his first year, the Fighting Irish ran 505 times compared to 362 passes. But in 2021, it was about even: 452 rushing attempts to 450 passing attempts.

That's not necessarily a prediction for what will happen at Alabama. View it more as an indication that Rees uses the tools he has. That, and game situations will determine how much he runs versus how much he passes.

“He understands how plays go together and how sometimes you’ve got to use plays from earlier to set up plays that are going to come up later,” Golic said. “What Alabama fans can expect is not balance for balance sake, but an understanding that football in general is about complementary football. It’s about the bigger picture. He sees that.”

Golic said Rees also likes to use a lot of motions and creative shifts in his offense, too.

Can he handle the pressure?

Golic remembers always feeling calm when Rees entered games.

Rees, who completed 627 passes for 7,670 yards and 61 touchdowns over four seasons at Notre Dame, impressed Golic when he entered games during the 2012 season, specifically. Rees was primarily a backup that year.

“Most other players could have flinched, could have not been ready,” Golic said. “He was just never that guy. I always remember feeling really sure of things when Tommy was in there.”

That pressure was good practice for being a Power Five offensive coordinator, especially at a place such as Alabama. O’Brien was a frequent lightning rod for criticism before his departure, even though his offenses finished No. 4 (2022) and No. 6 (2021) nationally in points per game.

Long, who’s from Mountain Brook and understands the Alabama culture, expects Rees to handle the pressure well in Tuscaloosa.

“Tommy is a tough kid man,” Long said. “He will figure it out and have just as much pressure he puts on himself as what the fan base does. He’s surrounded by a lot of good players. He’ll get it going. He’ll find a way. I expect them to be nothing but really good on offense.”

Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football: What OC Tommy Rees brings from Notre Dame