How close was Tommy Rees to taking LSU? ‘Staying was a little more unknown’
From the moment the roof caved in, Tommy Rees had a preference, a hope for how this mess would play out. Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and one-time Irish quarterback wanted to remain in South Bend when it was all cleaned up.
There was, though, also the matter of reality.
“Deep down, I always wanted to stay,” Rees said on a recent episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast, “but I didn’t know if that was going to be an opportunity or not.”
On the night Brian Kelly set his course for the South, Rees knew he had one surefire job – with Kelly at LSU. It would come with a raise. Notre Dame, meanwhile, had his heart but suddenly lacked a rudder. For a 29-year-old rising coach, the certainty aspect must be part of the discussion. And it nearly won out.
“I know what I’m getting with Coach Kelly,” Rees said. “I know what LSU is. That was the safer of the two decisions. I knew what I was getting into. Staying was a little more unknown. I know Notre Dame and know the players, but this is a new regime.”
For about 48 hours between Kelly’s departure Nov. 29 and Marcus Freeman’s elevation from defensive coordinator to head coach Dec. 1, there was no regime at Notre Dame. The only constant was a lack of concrete answers.
How close was Rees to leaving as a result? By his own admission, he was all but gone at first.
“Initially, when you have the conversation, it’s like, ‘Hell yeah, this is exciting as heck,’” Rees said. “It’s an opportunity to go coach at LSU, at a new opportunity, in the SEC when you’re playing against [Nick] Saban, [Texas] A&M and recruiting against those guys. As a competitor, it’s exciting as hell. That’s what you do this for. And you don’t know if you have a job. This is the only job I have. I’m not guaranteed anything [at Notre Dame].”
Rees even browsed Zillow for places to live in Baton Rouge. Some of his close friends were fired up about the idea of him in the SEC. A graduate assistant had a verbal agreement to go with him. His girlfriend was on board. He had talked with several people about the job and about LSU, including former LSU offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and Notre Dame play-by-play TV announcer Mike Tirico.
“There was one moment, after I worked out, I took a shower and got out of the shower and I was pissed,” Rees said. “I thought I was gone. There was a half-hour stretch where I was like, ‘Screw this.’ I was pissed about a couple things and just was like, ‘I think I’m going to leave.’ Then I calmed myself down, had another conversation and then information started coming in. Then I realized this is where I want to be.”
Rees was with Kelly on a now-infamous Monday, Nov. 29 recruiting visit in Washington when news of Kelly’s impending departure broke. Kelly confirmed with Rees and the two other assistants on the trip that it was true right before he got on a plane back to South Bend. That’s also when Rees learned he’d have a spot on Kelly’s LSU staff if he wanted it.
Rees flew to Orange County to recruit, then trekked back to South Bend late Tuesday night. From there, he went to athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s house to talk. He left around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, he said. He stayed up at his house until about 5 a.m. and fell asleep in a chair.
“I got back from Jack’s and I just sat there, poured some bourbon, just sat there with the fire going like, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Rees said.
At that point, he knew Freeman was meeting with Swarbrick sometime Wednesday. If Freeman were hired, the chances of him staying would skyrocket. He and Freeman spent the last year on staff together and were key pieces of an 11-1 regular season. They knew each other. They trusted each other. Still, the nervous energy gripped him. Would it actually happen?
“You’re sitting there Wednesday, like, ‘I hope it’s going well,’” Rees said. “I believe in Marcus, and I trust him, but at the same time, Jack could say, ‘Hey, we’re going in a different direction.’ Then I would’ve been on a plane to Baton Rouge the next morning.”
Rees received details of his new contract in the early evening and learned Freeman’s meeting went well. Wednesday night, he met with Notre Dame players and told them he was staying. News of Freeman’s pending promotion trickled out shortly after. The former occurrence was tied to the latter.
“There were very few opportunities at Notre Dame that were going to keep me there,” Rees said. “The head coach had to be somebody I knew and trusted, or else I’m not staying. I didn’t want to be part of an arranged marriage. Those don’t often work out.
“There was a relationship between me and Marcus.”
Rees had faith in Freeman. He understood he would have more control over Notre Dame’s offense with Freeman as the head coach, which Freeman all but confirmed at his Dec. 6 introduction.
“It's what you've seen on the field, right?” Freeman said of his offensive philosophy. “It's what you've seen Tommy do. When I talked to Jack Swarbrick about the opportunity to keep Tommy Rees, that was without question.”
Furthermore, Rees felt compelled to support the program that shaped him as a coach and be a calming presence for the players amid their own unease. All told, he felt a sense of pride for Notre Dame he hadn’t felt in a while.
“I felt like Notre Dame was the Alamo,” Rees said. “It was under attack. Everyone was going to die. I wanted to fight for Notre Dame. There was something inside me I’d never felt before. It was a new sense of allegiance.
“I don’t know what it was, but this is where I want to be and I want to support Notre Dame through this time. We just essentially went under attack and had our worlds flipped upside down. I wanted to be there to help fight through this and give the program some life, some energy that everything is going to be fine.”
Two days after uncertainty sideswiped him and everyone else, he felt sure of himself and his decision. In many ways, he was Freeman’s first big recruit as head coach. All Freeman had to do to win the battle was take the job. To Rees, Freeman’s 11-month tenure as defensive coordinator spoke for itself.
“The decision ultimately became, ‘How much do you believe in this guy?’” Rees said. “You’re putting your trust in him as a head coach. I couldn’t be more full steam ahead with him. First of all, he’s a great person. That’s the first thing I tried to find – morally, is he in the right place? Is he someone you can trust? Without a doubt, that’s a yes.
“He’s very competitive. He and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things in that sense. He relates to our players and recruits in a way that’s different. I believe he can help take Notre Dame to the next level because of the way he is with our players and the way he’s going to recruit at a high level. He’s completely player-driven and player-centric.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe without a doubt, he’s the right guy for the job.”
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