Thomas Kevin Rees (born May 22, 1992) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

at Notre Dame from 2010 to 2013. Rees began his coaching career in 2015 as a graduate assistant at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He then served as an offensive assistant for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in 2016. Rees then coached at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 2017 to 2022 and then at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 2023.

Early life

Rees was born to Bill and Susan (née Cantwell) Rees in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and grew up in Lake Bluff, Illinois. His father played college football at Ohio Wesleyan and served as an assistant coach at Northwestern and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Tommy played football at Lake Forest High School. As a senior in 2009, he completed 215 of 308 passes for 2,572 yards and 23 touchdowns while only throwing 3 interceptions the entire season. Rees had several explosive games including a 526-yard, six-touchdown performance against

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. His brother Danny Rees played football at UCLA. Rees was rated a three-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and Rivals.com, and signed with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in July 2009.

Playing career

College

2010 season

As a freshman at Notre Dame, Rees saw limited action in games against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, before being forced into action early against

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

when starting quarterback Dayne Crist ruptured his

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection whe ...

. Rees finished the game with 334 yards and four touchdown passes but threw a costly interception in the waning minutes of the game which sealed the victory for the Golden Hurricane. Rees led the Irish to victories in his first four starts at quarterback, including upsets of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, culminating in a 33–17 victory over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in the Sun Bowl. He finished the season with 1,106 yards passing, 12 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

2011 season

In the 2011 season, Rees passed for 2,869 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Notre Dame went 8–4 in the regular season with a bowl loss. Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson competed with Rees for the starting QB position in the 2012 season. After Michigan's comeback in the September 10 rivalry game, the derisive nickname "Turnover Tommy" began to circulate, which stuck with Rees following his performance in 2011, and through his college career. Despite this reputation, Rees finished the season with a completion percentage of 65.5%, a second to the Irish record of 68% held by Jimmy Clausen. Rees' 14 interceptions this season was a tie for 11th in the FBS.

2012 season

Rees was suspended by head coach Brian Kelly for the first game of the 2012 season after the junior quarterback was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor after fleeing from an off-campus party. Everett Golson was named the starter for the opening game against

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. Golson played most of the second game of the 2012 season against Purdue but was injured leading Rees to come in. Rees entered the game to a cascade of boos yet exited after piloting the game-winning drive, which ended with a winning field goal for Notre Dame. However, after the game, Kelly indicated that the team was staying with their initial starter, Golson, for the third game of the 2012 season at Michigan State. Rees started two games that year as Notre Dame made the BCS title game. All 13 games during the 2012 season were vacated soon after for use of ineligible players.

2013 season

On June 5, 2013, it was announced Rees would start at quarterback for the 2013 season.

College statistics

National Football League

After going undrafted in the 2014 NFL draft, Rees was signed by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

on May 10, 2014. He was released by the team on May 17.

Coaching career

Northwestern

Rees began his coaching career at Northwestern, where he spent one season as an offensive graduate assistant for the 2015 team.

San Diego Chargers

On February 9, 2016, Rees joined the

coaching staff as an offensive assistant.

Notre Dame

In January 2017, Rees returned to Notre Dame to be the quarterbacks coach. On January 14, 2020, Rees was officially promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Chip Long. In his first season as offensive coordinator, the Irish finished the 2020 campaign 10–2 with a loss to eventual national champion

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual single-elimination tournament, knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, D ...

semifinal.

Alabama

On February 3, 2023, CBS reported that Rees had reached a deal with

to become the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide.

Cleveland Browns

On February 5, 2024, Rees was hired by the

as their pass game specialist and tight ends coach under head coach Kevin Stefanski. On January 15, 2025, Rees was promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing

Ken Dorsey Kenneth Simon Dorsey (born April 22, 1981) is an American professional American football, football Coach (sport), coach and former quarterback who is the passing game specialist for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). Dorse ...

Personal life

Rees' father, Bill, works for the University of Notre Dame. His mother's name is Susan. He has an older brother, Danny, who played football at UCLA, and a sister named Meghan.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Tommy 1992 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches American football quarterbacks Cleveland Browns coaches Coaches of American football from Illinois NFL offensive coordinators Northwestern Wildcats football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from Lake Bluff, Illinois Players of American football from Lake County, Illinois Players of American football from Los Angeles San Diego Chargers coaches Sports coaches from Los Angeles Washington Redskins players