Alabama-LSU pits Tide OC Tommy Rees against former coach

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nick Saban is typically the one facing a former assistant on Saturday, but in this week’s Alabama-LSU clash, it will be a member of his staff facing an old boss. 

Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will meet Brian Kelly, his head coach – both as a player, position coach and coordinator – at Notre Dame, for the first time as a foe, not friend, when LSU travels to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the SEC matchup in Week 10.

Earlier this week, Kelly spoke highly of what his former protégé is doing at Alabama.

“We’ve got a deep connection relative to a player-coach relationship and then a respect for him as a coach and what he’s done in this profession at an early age,” Kelly said Monday. “He is somebody that I have a lot of respect for and what he’s done certainly at Notre Dame, and then in a very short time taking an offense and transforming quickly during the season.

“He’s a competitor. He always was as a player and you can see that as a coordinator. His teams are gonna be physical. They’re gonna run the football. They’re gonna push the ball down the field and they’re going to, more than anything else, utilize their personnel. He will mold the offense to fit the personnel. I think that’s what smart coaches do, and he’s an outstanding football coach.”

Rees emerged as a top target for the Tide’s offensive coordinator vacancy in early February and visited the Tuscaloosa-based campus before being hired. He spent the previous six seasons at his alma mater, Notre Dame, but agreed to a 3-year deal with UA that will pay him $1.9 million in Year 1 as play-caller and quarterbacks coach and $2.1 million in 2025.

Rees’ coaching career kicked off in 2015 when he spent one season as a graduate assistant at Northwestern. He went on to work for the then-San Diego Chargers as an offensive assistant in 2016 before coming back to South Bend, Ind. He was named the quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame in 2017, returning to a position room that he occupied as a player from 2010-13.

Three years later, Rees was promoted to offensive coordinator after Chip Long’s departure from the Fighting Irish program. In his first season as the offensive coordinator, Notre Dame finished the 2020 campaign at 10-2, losing to Alabama in the College Football Playoff.

Through the first eight games of Rees’ tenure, Alabama’s offense is averaging 30.6 points and 366.6 yards per game, and Rees has worked closely with quarterback Jalen Milroe in his first full year as the starter. Milroe ranks second nationally in yards per passing attempt at 10.6 and is also eighth in the country with a passer rating of 174.99 entering the meeting.

Rees calls the offense from the press box, but Milroe’s relationship with his position coach and offensive coordinator is still “constantly growing” as the calendar turns to November.

“I think the best thing about it is we have a relationship beyond football,” Milroe said. “I think that’s really key when you have a coach being able to talk football but also life as well. I think we have a good relationship when it comes to that. 

“Whether it comes to games, it doesn’t really matter if he’s on the field or up in the booth. I think the biggest thing is just having that feedback when it comes to each play that goes on in the game and being on the same play when he goes to the game plan and talking things through. No matter where he’s at, I know I’m going to get the right feedback before I get on the field.”

As he gets set to face his former coach, Rees is approaching this week just like any other.

“I don’t think anything different,” Saban said. “Tommy works hard and tries to do the best he can to help our players to play well in the game. I don’t think in these kinds of games you want to sort of try to – I don’t know what you would call it – do a lot of new stuff because the players need to have confidence in what you’re doing, and they gain confidence in doing that through cumulative reps throughout the course of the season. 

“And if you just make a bunch of changes, they start looking at you like, ‘Don’t you think we can execute what we’ve been doing?’ So I think you’ve got to be a little careful, but I don’t see that happening. I think he’s focused on trying to get our players in the right spots to do the right things that help them have a chance to be successful.”

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