Nick Saban says he feels 39, connects well with Tommy Rees

When Alabama hired Tommy Rees as their offensive coordinator this offseason, some scratched their heads, as the 31-year-old is one of the youngest offensive coordinators in the country with minimal experience.

Given their four decade age difference, Rees couldn’t be more opposite of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, the 71-year-old who’s the second oldest head coach in college football only behind North Carolina‘s Mack Brown.

Saban was on his ninth coaching stop as the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns the year Rees was born, but at SEC Media Days this week, he said he’s feeling younger than ever and spoke about his relationship with Rees.

“It’s great,” Saban said. “First of all, I still feel like I’m 39 and Tommy’s great. He’s mature, he does a great job presenting to the players, he has good relationships with the players, he’s very bright, he understands the game.”

Rees played quarterback at Notre Dame from 2010-2013, facing Saban’s Alabama team in the BCS National Championship in 2013. And his coaching career began shortly after his playing career in 2015 as a graduate assistant at Northwestern.

He climbed his way up the coaching ranks quickly, making one more stop as an offensive assistant for the San Diego Chargers before returning to his alma mater in 2017 as the quarterbacks coach for the Fighting Irish. In 2020 he was promoted to both a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Notre Dame, the same role he’s assumed in Tuscaloosa.

“He’s a very good quarterback coach in terms of helping guys improve at that position, which I think is critical,” Rees said.

Developing the quarterback position will be crucial for Alabama this offseason as Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe continue to battle for the team’s starting job now with the new Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner in the competition.

It’s no secret the there’s some big shoes to fill at the quarterback position for the Crimson Tide, as the team’s next starter will have to follow in the footsteps of four straight starting quarterbacks that were selected in the first or second rounds of the NFL Draft.

But Saban is confident in Rees’ abilities and believes he has what it takes to help maintain Alabama’s standard of offensive excellence.

We don’t have any issues, he’s very respectful of what we want to do and how we want to do it guy’s hungry, wants to learn. I think he’s one of the brightest young coaches I’ve been around for a long time.