Brady Quinn offers wild suggestion, takes parting shot at Brian Kelly
Oklahoma State entered the Fiesta Bowl with the No. 12 passing defense in the country. It doesn’t seem to matter to Notre Dame — and a Fighting Irish icon has a theory for why his alma mater’s offense is running so well.
Former Notre Dame quarterback and current FOX analyst Brady Quinn posed an interesting question on Twitter. He’s wondering if offensive coordinator and play-caller Tommy Rees has been unleashed, in a way.
To put it another way, he’s asking what Brian Kelly’s effect on the offense was before he left for LSU.
“Was BK holding back this Irish OFF?!?” Quinn tweeted with the hashtag #GoIrish.
Let’s be honest. Quinn was probably joking. But the Fighting Irish offense certainly looked rejuvenated through one half of play.
Quarterback Jack Coan is having a huge day through one half of the Fiesta Bowl. He hit the 300-yard mark and three touchdowns with more than four minutes left in the first half — 66 yards away from his season high of 366 yards. That’s not bad against an Oklahoma State team that averaged 187.2 passing yards allowed per game coming into the matchup.
It’s made for quite a debut for new head coach Marcus Freeman, who comes from a defensive background. Freeman served as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator this year before getting promoted to take over for Kelly.
Tommy Rees: Brian Kelly’s abrupt departure gave ‘new feeling’
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is a former Irish starting quarterback, so he is intimately familiar with one of college football’s most storied programs. But it took the surprising departure of his former boss and head coach to usher in a new collection of feelings about the Irish program.
“I think the overwhelming support I was given,” Rees said last week when asked what he would remember most about the whirlwind week in late November that began with head coach Brian Kelly and ended with head coach Marcus Freeman. “Outside of all of the turmoil, outside of all of the conversations, outside of all of the what ifs, I think the support that came pouring in from people you were counting on, but then again other people you hadn’t probably talked to in a couple years, and they’re calling or reaching out to you to offer their advice and support.”
Rees has previously detailed the days leading up Kelly’s departure and the decision-making process he endured while trying to figure out his next move. He cited he felt a close connection and a need to defend Notre Dame, but he added additional commentary and detail concerning exactly what that looked like.