How Tommy Rees is using his early enrollee memories to shape Notre Dame freshman QB Steve Angeli
Twelve years ago, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was in the exact same position as current Irish early enrollee Steve Angeli.
The year was 2010. Like Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, former head coach Brian Kelly was in his first year at the helm at Notre Dame. Rees arrived in South Bend while his friends were back in high school at Lake Forest (Ill.) High. Notre Dame needed a new starting quarterback, but it was unlikely to be him. Dayne Crist had waited his turn — and undergone a knee surgery — and was set to take the job. As such, Rees’ spring practice reps were almost nonexistent.
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Rees remembers that feeling, vividly, and now that he’s running the offense, he’s determined not to repeat it.
“My early enrollee semester, I think I got two reps all spring and was thrown into the spring game,” Rees said Saturday. “I told (Angeli and sophomore Ron Powlus III) ‘I’m not going to do that to you guys. You’re going to get a ton of reps from now until the spring game, so that when that day comes, you guys are ready to go out there and operate.’”
Angeli got his first look at “live” football on Saturday, as Notre Dame scrimmaged in the Irish Athletic Center. The team was supposed to practice in Notre Dame Stadium but moved indoors due to frigid temperatures and snow showers.
While the 104-play scrimmage was closed to the media, Rees and Freeman provided some detail afterwards, and Rees said Angeli “did a nice job.”
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“I think for Steve it’s a little different,” Rees added. “I’m not standing next to (him) with the script and telling (him) what’s coming up. So for him, it’s another step in the right direction and growth. It’s your first time really playing live football at Notre Dame.”
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Details of his day weren’t provided, but the practices the media has been able to watch show he is getting reps in. A couple of weeks ago, the last time practice was open to the media beyond the first five periods, Angeli’s throws looked crisp and accurate, particularly as he was working with tight end Kevin Bauman. He close said practice out with an on-target, downfield toss to receiver Conor Ratigan.
The 6-2, 210-pound signal-caller exhibits a poise and confidence you might see from a third-year starter, not a player who could be spending his Saturday in April preparing for prom.
Regardless of how many snaps Angeli plays come the fall, clearly Rees sees a value in getting him reps this spring, whether for schematic reasons, confidence reasons or otherwise.
And it’s hard to question someone who’s been him.
