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.

“To me, the rallying of Notre Dame and the people that have touched this program and I’ve come across in my time here, their ability to offer support to the entire program and to me individually was overwhelming,” Rees said. “That’s something that speaks volumes about this place.”

Because of his aforementioned time at Notre Dame, Rees understood the sense of community. But this experience took his feelings to a never-before-felt level.

“Absolutely not,” Rees added with conviction when asked if he had ever felt the need to defend Notre Dame before. “Not like this. This was a rare feeling.”

Freeman, Rees hit recruiting trail

Rees immediately took that new feeling on the road.

The first thing Freeman did in his new capacity was recruit, an unsurprising activity given his statements that he wants to be the team leader in recruiting, which diverges from the way Kelly often treated the process. He took his offensive coordinator with him. 

They went coast-to-coast visiting 14 different states and largely kept the 2022 class intact before Early Signing Day. On3’s Consensus Team Recruiting Rankings have the Irish’s 2022 class at No. 6 nationally with 21 commits — 21 four-star signees and two three-star signees.

The 35 and 29 year olds next assignment for the season is the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State. It is set to kick off at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN, and Notre Dame is looking to win their first major bowl game since 1993.