What a journey up the coaching corporate ladder it's been for new Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.
At 23, Rees—Notre Dame's quarterback from 2010 to '13—was a graduate assistant at Northwestern. Five years later, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on a playoff Fighting Irish team. Five years after that, he will be an offensive coordinator in the NFL.
In the interest of educating Browns fans about their new offensive coordinator, Sports 4 CLE dug up a quote from former Alabama coach Nick Saban about Rees in 2023—when the assistant helped quarterback Jalen Milroe finish sixth in the Heisman voting.
"He's mature. He does a good job presenting to the players—he has a great relationship with the players," Saban said. "He's very bright. He understands the game. He's a very good quarterbacks coach in terms of helping guys improve at that position, which I think is critical."
Nick Saban on #Browns new OC Tommy Rees back in ‘23.
— CLEology (@_CLEology) January 14, 2025
That’ll play…#DawgPound pic.twitter.com/NhmaI0zfYP
Saban's comments have to thrill Cleveland fans scarred by a year in which the team's ranks in scoring and total offense hit a seven- and eight-year low, respectively. Additionally, the Browns will in all likelihood need a quarterback in April's draft.
"We don't have any issues. He's very respectful of what we wanna do and how we wanna do it," Saban said. "The guy's hungry. He wants to learn. I think he's one of the brightest young coaches that I've been around for a long time."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Old Nick Saban Quote About Tommy Rees Resurfaces As Browns Name Offensive Coordinator.
