Quick hitters: Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees on quarterbacks Tyler Buchner, Steve Angeli
Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees spoke with reporters on Sunday, Dec. 11. He spent most of his press conference talking about his Fighting Irish quarterbacks.
Here are his top quotes from the session.
On Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner
“It’s been a while, right? I think there is a really good grasp of the totality of what we’re trying to do offensively. I attribute some of that to him staying engaged throughout this whole 10-, 12-week process. I think him being up [in the press box during games] with us helped some of those things, how he sees the game, the vantage point of it.
“You’re always eager to see how he’s playing in the pocket, what’s the command, is there rust? I thought today was really one of his strongest practices he’s had in a couple years here. He was really sharp today. He’s been smooth. There haven’t been a ton of issues in terms of what we’re asking him to do. I’m proud of the way he stayed engaged and was able to hit the ground running a little bit.”
On Buchner playing behind this version of the Notre Dame offense line
“When you’re able to run the ball and play with a really good front, it takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback in terms of plays you hand it off and get six to eight yards. It gets you in a really good spot where early in the season we were asking him to create some of that stuff. You mirror a traditional running game with the ability of Ty, it gives you some advantages in some spots. He’s made some throws from the pocket the last couple days that were really impressive. But it’s more about the ability to say I’m going to stay in there, maybe move and keep my eyes downfield where there are big-time plays.
“There is some rust we have to shake off. Some of the timing stuff with motion and communication issues. We’ll continue to see how he progresses and see where he is in a week or so.”
On Buchner’s game day role in the press box
“He would always set his eyes where the quarterback’s eyes were supposed to be set. If I needed an extra vantage point, he would say, ‘Hey, this is what it looked like from this side.’ Wherever the eyes were supposed to go. He was valuable there because he hears the play call and he’s able to see the defense from the same vantage point. If I’m looking at something different, he was always able to look at it and know where the quarterback, based on a great view, was supposed to put his eyes. If we had an error, I could always look to him.”
On the loss of tight end Michael Mayer to the NFL Draft
“You don’t want to overhaul things too much, but you have to push other guys in spots to step up and make critical plays. There are certain plays within a plan where you say, ‘This is going to be a mike target.’ Third down or high red or we have this look, you just flip your brain. For the last three years when you look at a defense you say, ‘Oh, I can get Mike here and take advantage of this. Or I can line up in this formation and get Mike here and take advantage of this.’ And now you flip who you are talking about when you look at a formation. ‘If I can get so and so here, I can get this advantage.’ Obviously he’s a heck of a player, but we’ve got a good group. We want to stay with our identity and put some guys in spots to make plays in critical moments.”
On backup offensive linemen
“I feel like that whole group has the ability to go in there and help us. [Andrew] Kristofic is a guy who has played a bunch for us in the past. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve really seen a step forward with him. There is confidence with his ability. A guy like Tosh Baker, there is confidence in his ability. He’s moved around a little bit, but you talk about a kid that comes in every day with a hungry work ethic and a good attitude and someone you just want to keep developing and pushing to get him to reach his potential. Those two have done a nice job for us, and their attitude is pretty consistent. I’m happy to see where they’re at and where they can be moving ahead.”
On Notre Dame quarterback Steve Angeli
“It starts with the demeanor of the kid. He’s got a quiet swagger to him, a confidence with which he plays. He’s pretty natural with movements, with how the ball comes out of his hand. He’s innately accurate. You always look for silver linings when injuries happen. For Steve to be up with us all the last 12 weeks, that’s critical for development moving forward. He probably would have been on scout team all year if things don’t happen the way they do. He had to be in every game plan meeting, be on the field, take reps, take reps vs. looks he doesn’t know, learn from making mistakes, learn from making good plays. The ability for him to learn this year was so critical for him moving forward.
“The skill set is natural, which is easy. It’s smooth. But then the personality of the kid, there is some confidence there when he steps on the field that he knows he can go make some plays and make some throws. When he gets rolling, I think he’s going to be a great player for us.”
