Tommy Rees 2022-23 Football Staff

The Rees File

Playing Career

Coaching Career

Bowls Played

Bowls Coached

PERSONAL INFORMATION

• Four-year letterwinner at quarterback for Notre Dame from 2010-13
• Finished his Notre Dame career as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in school history
• Ranks in the top five in Notre Dame history in 21 different single-game, single-season or career passing categories
• Registered a 23-8 (.733) career record as the Irish starting quarterback
• Only one Notre Dame quarterback has ever collected more TD passes, while just two have thrown for more yards
• Named Notre Dame Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2013 (threw for 3,257 yards and 27 TDs)
• Third signal caller in school history to eclipse the 3,000-yard passing mark in a season and only three Irish quarterbacks have ever registered more TD passes in a year
• Ranked 11th in the FBS in passing yards per completion (14.54), 19th in passing touchdowns (27), 24th in passing yards (3,257), t-35th in point responsibility (162), t-45th in point responsibility/game (12.5) and 30th in passing yards/game (250.5) in 2013

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Heading into his third season as the Notre Dame offensive coordinator in 2022 after being the quarterbacks coach from 2017-2019.
• In his second season as the offensive signal caller, he oversaw the growth and development from tight end Michael Mayer, running back Kyren Williams and graduate-transfer quarterback Jack Coan.
• In Rees’ offense, Mayer set the Notre Dame single season record for most receptions by a tight end (71), surpassing Tyler Eifert’s record of 63 in the regular season finale against Stanford.
• Mayer also set single season records in receiving touchdowns by a tight end (7) and receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (840).
• Williams rushed for 1,000 yards for the second-straight season under Rees. He is only the fifth running back in Notre Dame history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and the first since Darius Walker (2005-06).
• Williams finished the season ranked 17th in the NCAA with 17 total touchdowns this season. That number is fifth-best in program history for a single season.
• Under Rees’ tutelage, Coan had the best season of his career. In the bowl game, Coan set a career-high with 509 passing yards and set a Notre Dame record in a bowl game. Coan also set Notre Dame records for completions (38) and attempts (68) against Oklahoma State.
• Coan is just one of two Notre Dame quarterbacks to throw for over 500 yards in a game (Joe Theismann – 1970 vs. USC).
• Coan also set a Notre Dame record for most passing yards in a season opener with then a career-best 366 against Florida State. Coan also tied a Notre Dame record with four passing touchdowns in the opener.
• Coached starting signal caller Ian Book, the winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history
• In 2020, Book led the Irish to their second appearance in the College Football Playoffs in the last three years in 2020, on his way to becoming the all-time winningest quarterback in Notre Dame history. In his final season at Notre Dame, Book completed 228-of-353 passes, good for 2,830 yards and 15 touchdowns.
• Book, a top-10 Heisman finisher, was named the 2020 Pop Warner College Football Award winner. He was also tabbed as a finalist for the Manning Award, as well as being selected to the Top 10 for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. In addition to being a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, he was named to the award’s Great 8 list four times. Book was additionally selected as a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, also earning ACC Quarterback of the Week following the Pitt game and Manning Award Star of the Week following the Boston College game. On top of it all, he was also selected as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.
• Book was drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints
• Book, who opened his starting career with nine consecutive victories, was the first Notre Dame quarterback to win at least eight consecutive games as the starter to open a season since Terry Hanratty was the Irish quarterback in eight straight victories in the 1966 national championship season
• Book started all 13 games at QB in 2019, finishing the year 240-for-399 for 3,034 yards and 34 TDs to just six interceptions while being named a top-20 finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
• Book became the first QB in Notre Dame history with at least 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 TD passes in a season (Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts was the only other FBS QB to reach those milestones in 2019)
• His 34 passing TDs on the year marked the second-most in a season by an Irish QB, trailing only Brady Quinn’s 37 in 2006
• Book had five games in 2019 with four or more passing TDs, the most in a Notre Dame football season
• Named 2018 FootballScoop Quarterbacks Coach of the Year
• Book ranked eighth in the FBS with a 68.2 completion percentage in 2018, and ranked 17th in passing efficiency with a 154.0 rating; Book set a school record in completion percentage in 2018 (68.2) — besting Jimmy Clausen’s mark in 2009 (68.0)
• Book threw for 2,628 yards and 19 TDs with only seven interceptions in 2018, and was named a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award and the Davey O’Brien Award and a finalist for the Manning Award, also became the first FBS quarterback to win his first five starts of a season while completing 70.0-plus percent of his passes in each game since Russell Wilson at Wisconsin in 2011
• Mentored Brandon Wimbush to a 4-0 record as a starting quarterback in 2018. Wimbush, who went 13-3 as a starter at Notre Dame, ranks eighth in school history for best winning percentage as a starter
• Coached Wimbush, who was the only starting signal caller in college football to defeat four teams that finished 2017 ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The four victories over teams that finished 2017 ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 were the most by an Irish quarterback since 1990 – when Rick Mirer registered five
• Wimbush was the third QB in school history to eclipse both 500 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards in the same season, joining Tony Rice (1988 and ‘89) and DeShone Kizer (2015)
• Guided Book, who started in Notre Dame’s 33-10 victory at North Carolina and came off the bench to help the Irish rally past No. 16 LSU, 21-17, in the 2018 Citrus Bowl
• Returned to his alma mater following one season as an offensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers where he worked with an offense that ranked tied for seventh in the NFL in passing (262.4), ninth in scoring (25.6), t-12th in yards/play (5.6) and 14th in total offense (356.8)
• San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 4,386 yards and 33 TDs, which ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NFL in 2016
• Broke into the coaching ranks in 2015 at Northwestern, where he served as an offensive graduate assistant
• The Wildcats went 10-3 and finished the year ranked No. 23 in the final Associated Press poll
• Aided Northwestern redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson, who became the first quarterback in school history to lead the Wildcats to 10 wins in his first season as a starter

Dynamic Disciples

QB Ian Book (Notre Dame)

• Winningest QB in program history
• 2021 Fourth Round NFL Draft pick (New Orleans Saints)

QB Brandon Wimbush (Notre Dame)

• Ranked eighth in school history for best winning percentage as a starter (13-3)
• Third QB in school history to eclipse both 500 rushing yards and 1,000 passing yards in the same season in 2017, joining Tony Rice (1988 and ‘89) and DeShone Kizer (2015)

WR Tyrell Williams (Los Angeles Chargers)

• One of only four undrafted rookies to earn a spot on the active roster out of training camp in 2015
• Registered 69 catches for 1,059 and seven TDs in 16 games (12 starts)