Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees opens up about transfer portal conversations
Quarterbacks in the current climate of college football who endure what Tommy Rees went through during his playing career at Notre Dame are out in a hurry. They don’t stick around like Rees did.
Rees enrolled early but didn’t get many, if any, reps during spring ball. Things changed over the summer, and former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly ensured Rees he’d be the backup quarterback as a true freshman. His first relief appearance didn’t go well; he threw an interception on a flea flicker and short-hopped an out-route on his only two attempts in a loss to Michigan. He didn’t attempt another pass for over a month. That’s the type of scar tissue only the transfer portal seems to heal these days.
But like he overcame his inactive spring, Rees started the final four games of the season and won them all. He started 12 of 13 games as a sophomore. Just when he thought the job was his for good, his ratio dwindled to two starts in 11 games as a junior. He lost the starting job to Everett Golson. In this era, that’s when the transfer portal would have really come calling.
But Rees stayed put.
He stuck it out, reassumed the starting role and made 2013 his best season in a Notre Dame uniform.
Not many coaches have better “should I stay or should I go” perspective than Rees, who as the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame has such conversations with players frequently. He shared some of his wisdom with the Inside the Garage podcast hosts this week.
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“I always try to operate with honesty first,” Rees said. “Everybody’s situation is independent to who they are. I don’t ever want to see people leave our program because I think we have great kids, but in my mind I can justify certain guys leaving given their circumstances. So if that’s the case, I’m going to be up front and tell them.
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“I say ‘Hey, I don’t want to see you go, but I understand the reasons X, Y and Z leading you to this point. And we can try to help you find a landing spot because you are a great kid and you have a situation where you’re stuck behind somebody you’re not going to beat out.'”
Notre Dame had over a dozen players from last year’s roster enter the portal. One of them, Inside the Garage host and former Irish safety KJ Wallace, was sitting in the room with Rees while he spoke on the topic.
Rees said there are certain situations in which he’ll actually try to convince players to stay. If someone is close to earning his Notre Dame degree, Rees magnifies the importance of sticking around to walk the stage. Obviously, if he sees a future on the field for someone he’ll relay that message too. Rees said he’s never trying to skew decisions.
He’s never trying to “bulls— with them” — in his own words.
“I feel like sometimes players don’t trust the coaches,” Rees said. “Everybody thinks, ‘They’re just saying this because they only care about the program.’ Or, ‘They only want us here because we’re healthy.’ I would tell you in my experience working with the guys upstairs, very, very, very rarely have I ever felt anyone’s intentions were selfish. I truly believe that. We’re going to try to help you, and we’re going to try to give you the honest truth. That’s a part of our job too.”
