Tommy Rees details reason he chose to remain under Marcus Freeman
While former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly tried to persuade Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to follow him to LSU, both Freeman and Rees decided to stay put in South Bend – only this time with Freeman being the new head coach and Rees still serving as the offensive coordinator.
During an episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast, Rees discussed what went into his decision to remain at Notre Dame and work under Freeman moving forward.
“For me, the decision ultimately became how much do you believe in this guy? Right? Because you are putting your trust in him as a head coach,” Rees said. “And I’ll tell you like, I couldn’t be more full steam ahead with that. You know, I think, first of all, he’s a great person. I think that’s the first thing that I try to find. Is this somebody that, morally, is he in the right place? Is he someone you can trust? And like, without a doubt, that’s yes.
“He’s very competitive, which like him and I see eye to eye on a lot of things in that sense. And he just relates to our players and recruits in a way that’s different. I think that’s what ultimately … I believe he can help take Notre Dame to the next level, because of the way he is with our players and the way he’s going to be able to recruit at a high level.”
Rees, 29, was Notre Dame’s quarterback from 2010-13 and became the Fighting Irish’s quarterbacks coach in 2017 – holding that position until the 2020 season when he was elevated to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was reportedly offered a $400,000 pay increase to join Kelly’s staff at LSU.
Marcus Freeman plans to take Notre Dame recruiting to next level
Notre Dame has been a prestigious football program for quite some time. Brian Kelly built it into a powerhouse over his long tenure in South Bend, and now that he’s gone to LSU, it’s time for Marcus Freeman to keep the tradition going into the future.
While winning has been a consistent theme for the Fighting Irish, Freeman has the goal to do just that – but he’s mainly focused on recruiting the best talent to Notre Dame.
“I better be the No. 1 recruiter,” Freeman said. “I better be the lead recruiter in every kid that we recruit – and I plan on doing it. We obviously have to depend on our staff, and I will depend on our staff to make sure we know who and what and why we’re recruiting every individual, but if I’m not the lead recruiter then we’re cheating.”
Already having played in a key role in recruiting while serving as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator under Kelly, Freeman shouldn’t have any trouble keeping that trend going as he takes over in South Bend.