Tommy Rees / Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator & QB Coach

Tommy Rees starts his third season as Note Dame’s offensive coordinator and his sixth year as the Irish quarterback’s coach. During his coaching tenure, the Irish have compiled an outstanding record of 54-10 and competed twice in the NCAA College Football Playoffs.

Rees’ time under the Golden Dome began during his four years as a quarterback for the Irish from 2010 to 2013, when he notched a record of 23-8 starting behind center. During that time, he completed nearly 60 percent of his pass attempts, throwing for 7,670 yards and connecting for 61 touchdown passes.

In 2015, Rees entered the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Northwestern, followed by one season as an offensive assistant with the then-San Diego Chargers. Coaching changes led him back to Notre Dame in April 2017 to take over for Mike Sanford as the school’s quarterbacks coach.

During Rees’ first season, he took advantage of Brandon Wimbush’s skills as a passer and a runner to help the Irish wipe away the severe disappointment of 2016. Wimbush bounced back after missing that forgettable season by throwing for 1,870 yards and 16 touchdowns, while also rushing for 804 yards and scoring 14 times.

The following year, Wimbush began the year as the starter at quarterback before soon giving way to Ian Book, who had gotten his first taste of action the year before. Book’s elevation to a starting role proved to be the start of a nearly three-year run for him, years in which Notre Dame managed to win 10 or more games each year.

During that 2018 campaign, Book connected on better than 68 percent of his passes to rack up 2,628 yards through the air and 19 touchdowns, with only seven interceptions. The combination of Rees and Book played a key role in helping the Irish make the college football playoff appearance that followed a perfect regular season.

In 2019, Rees managed to help make Book even more prolific with 3,034 yards and 34 touchdown passes, keeping mistakes to a minimum with just six interceptions. On three separate occasions during the year, Book finished a game with five touchdown passes and twice tossed four in a contest.

Shortly after that season concluded, Rees was promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Chip Long. Navigating his way through a chaotic season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rees tutored Book one more time, an effort that resulted in steady production, virtually mistake-free football and another playoff berth.

For 2021, Rees helped Jack Coan smoothly transition into the starting job at quarterback, with the Irish winning all but one of their 12 regular season games. Coan did his part by completing more than 65 percent of his passes and throwing for 3,150 yards and 25 scores. Rees also found a way to deftly use reserve signal-callers Tyler Buchner and Drew Pyne.

Rees was targeted by a number of other schools during this past offseason, but ultimately stayed, where he’ll continue to develop the skills of Buchner, Pyne and others.