Tommy Rees discusses decision to stay: 'I felt like Notre Dame was the Alamo'

Once former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly left for LSU, the focus in South Bend quickly turned to finding the next staff for the new regime.

Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is staying at Notre Dame under new head coach Marcus Freeman, but Rees didn’t always think it would turn out that way. 

On Friday’s episode of “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” Rees joined Russillo and shared just how many times he thought his tenure in South Bend was over and what ultimately kept him at his alma mater on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 1.

“Hard,” Rees said when asked what Wednesday was like. “I was up ‘til probably like 4:30 or 5 in the morning Tuesday night. I got back from Jack (Swarbrick’s house), and I just sat there and poured some bourbons with the fire going, like ‘What the hell is going on?’ I live alone. So it’s just me, and I literally sat there. 

“I probably fell asleep in the chair. I woke up to my doorbell ringing. My dad’s on staff here. No text, no call, completely unannounced, (he) just shows up my house at like 9:30 in the morning, So we talked through some things.”

Rees said he did not want people to know he was in South Bend, so he stayed put at home. A staff member helped him out, delivering breakfast while he chatted with his dad, Bill. The elder Rees currently serves as the director of scouting for Notre Dame. 

“I didn’t have all the contractual information yet,” Rees said, presumably referring to both his personal contract and what the staff around him might look like should he decide to stay. “But I was waiting for stuff to come back so I could make a decision based on facts. I needed to know all the information. And so then once all that came in it was probably like 5 (or) 6. And then I knew, I think I knew that I wanted to stay, and I was just waiting for it to be compelling enough to stay.”

LSU reportedly offered Rees a raise for joining the staff in his same capacity, and he admitted the opportunity to coach in the SEC was exciting. So exciting he almost left. Multiple times. 

“There was one moment after I worked out. I took a shower, and I got out of the shower pissed, and I thought I was gone,” Rees added. “There was about a half hour stretch where I was like, screw this. I was pissed about a couple of things. I was like, I think I’m gonna leave. And then I kind of calmed myself down and had another conversation, and then the information started coming in. And then I realized, okay, this is where I want to be.

“I would say majority Monday night, I was gone. Majority of Tuesday, I was gone. And then Wednesday kind of flipped.”

Next, the former Irish quarterback made a compelling analogy, one which is especially powerful given his deep understanding of the Notre Dame football program.

“I felt like Notre Dame was the Alamo and like it was under attack, everyone was gonna die,” Rees said. “I wanted to fight for Notre Dame. There was something inside of me, and I’ve never felt that before. It was just a new sense of allegiance or respect. I don’t know what it was, but I was like this is where I want to be and I want to support Notre Dame through this time.”

On Wednesday evening, plans became public that Rees, 29, would stick around under 35-year-old Freeman. The young duo is confident they can take Notre Dame to new heights, and the foundation in place is as good as it has been in multiple decades to do so. 

Everything unfolded so that Rees stayed. But it almost wasn’t that way.