It’s official.
Brian Kelly has just announced that Tom “Tommy” Rees will be promoted to Offensive Coordinator, while current running backs coach Lance Taylor will be promoted to Run Game Coordinator as posted on the UND website.
Kelly said “After an extensive national search, I’m proud to name Tom Rees our next offensive coordinator.”
As I expected, Kelly highlighted his “ability to connect” with the players as one of the many reasons he edged the competition.
Tommy Boy All Grown Up
Many have doubted Rees and have mixed emotions about the promotion, but he earned his stripes after delivering Notre Dame to a 33-6 record since he joined the staff.
Rees began his playing career in 2010 and collected 23 wins. From there, he did one season as a Graduate Assistant at Northwestern University in 2015.
The Los Angeles Chargers brought him on as an Offensive Assistant for a single season in 2016 and finally in 2017, Rees returned home to South Bend as the Quarterbacks Coach.
Taylor Time
The Alabama graduate has been coaching since 2007 and has spent most of his careers in the National Football League as an assistant for Wide Receivers, Tight Ends and Quality Control until finally landing a role at Stanford in 2014. Taylor developed Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love before heading back to the Carolina Panthers as a Wide Receivers Coach.
As Autry Denson moved to his head coaching role, Taylor landed the Running Backs Coach role, and now the promotion to Run Game Coordinator.
Collaborative Approach
It appears Kelly was telling the truth after all, that they would take a collaborative approach in the new scheme. I think Rees will infuse some new ideas into the offense, and Taylor, will bring the experience that Rees lacks to the run game – an identity that the Irish lacked in 2019 under Chip Long.
