Quick-hitters: Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees Drew Pyne, Clemson celebration, play calling

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees spoke to the media Tuesday night fresh off the Fighting Irish’s 35-14 victory over Clemson. Here’s what he had to say.

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On Notre Dame’s offensive success vs. Clemson

“I watched the defensive coordinator’s press conference. I watched the head coach’s press conference. I heard what they said. It was all about physicality. They have a lot of really good players, but teams don’t see our style every week. I’m proud of our guys. It’s a hard-fought game. But 273 [rushing yards]? I don’t know. I thought we’d make more plays in the pass game to open it up but the factors of the wind and factors of our ability to run the ball, it never really came to that.”

On Notre Dame’s propensity to call duo

“We’ve been running it for years. The crux of it was, it gives you one right answer for the run game. If you’re in an 11 look or they want to load the box with a safety, you’re going to be short a hat in zone schemes. With duo, you have the ability to crack the safety and the ball can get bounced onto a corner and that’s a matchup we’ll take. There are times when it plays out. Our backs have become unbelievable at reading it. Our line has a ton of belief in it.

“You have to have the tight ends to run it. That is such a critical spot. I think [Mitchell Evans] has made an impact in our running game more than people acknowledge. Mitch’s ability to be in there and own the point of attack has been huge. It’s a huge plus for our ability to run that game. Based on how they play it, you should be able to make [the defense] more times than not based on how you run it.”

On Evans’ progress as a blocker and in general

“Mitch is a big kid, obviously. But he’s very athletic and flexible. His ability to get on people but also react to movements and recover when things aren’t perfect makes an impact. He played a huge bulk of the game. Before the season when we thought this was going to be the tight end room, we had said we are going to play a lot of 12 personnel. Mitch also has the ability to be a receiving threat which we haven’t really gotten to yet. It’s really the size, but it’s more the ability to recover and bend and match some of those long-movement range athletes he has to block on the edge.”

On going from the booth to the field to celebrate

“Syracuse was the first time I’ve ever done it. That was a little more because of the box situation trying to get through the fans. Coach Gerad Parker, to his credit, twice now said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come share this with us?’ That’s pretty cool for him to say that.

“Rare opportunity Saturday night. There were a couple minutes left. I said, ‘Hey guys, screw it, I’m coming down.’ I told Park, ‘If I’m not down in time call duo until you can’t speak and I’ll be down there in a couple minutes.’

“You’re isolated in the box. Being on the field, it’s like there are two different ecosystems going on. Getting down there, you feel the rush of the game again. A moment like that at Notre Dame Stadium is about as great as it’s been in terms of the atmosphere and the feel and the players. Just being able to share all those moments with them was cool and something I’ll remember for a long time. I don’t plan on making it a habit, but it was pretty special.”

On Irish quarterback Drew Pyne

“Drew had worked his tail off all week and had a great week of prep. He was calm and really confident throughout the game. He knew exactly what we wanted to do and how we wanted to attack them. Control tempo, control the line of scrimmage. There is a lot more on his plate than just throwing the ball. Run game, he doesn’t just go up there and snap the ball. He’s making points and checks and making sure there are motions that aren’t automatic. He handled the game as well as he can. He’s doing a really nice job of those situations for us. He was in a great spot Friday and Saturday leading up to the game. You felt really good about his ability to go out there.”

On being on the field to call plays vs. being in the box

“I like being up because you can see it. You got everything in front of you. It’s easier to adjust to some things in games because you have the better vantage point. You have the time to map things out. Chip Long had a lot of success calling it from the field. A guy like [Steve Sarkisian]. When guys call it in the NFL, everybody calls it from the field. Clearly it’s doable, but I just haven’t had the experience. We do it in practice, but that’s different. Every time I go down there, I’m like gosh, I love the environment, but calling it is a whole different deal.”