Report: Alabama Targeting Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator

There's a new emerging candidate for the vacancy left at offensive coordinator by Bill O'Brien.

Katie Windham | Feb 2, 2023

It has been over a week since Bill O'Brien left his position as offensive coordinator with the Alabama Crimson Tide to return to the New England Patriots for the same position.

According to ESPN's Chris Low, current Notre Dame offensive coordinator and former Fighting Irish quarterback Tommy Rees is now the top target for he position at Alabama. He has already been in discussions with Alabama head coach Nick Saban and will be on campus Thursday according to the report.

An official Alabama plane has been seen at the South Bend, Indiana airport to pick up Rees and bring him to Tuscaloosa for the interview according to The Athletic.

Last season, Notre Dame's offense was ranked 44th in scoring at 31.8 points per game, 98th in passing at 207.1 yards per game and 35th in rushing at 188.9 yards per game.

Rees has worked at Notre Dame since 2017, serving as quarterbacks coach from 2017-2019 and adding on the offensive coordinator role in 2020. In his first season as offensive coordinator, the Fighting Irish went 10-2 behind quarterback Ian Book and lost to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl in Dallas.

He was quarterback for Notre dame from 2010 to 2013. He was not drafted out of college and spent one year as a graduate assistant at Northwestern and one season as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers. At just 30 years old, Rees is one of the younger coordinators in college football.

Earlier in the week, reports surfaced that Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was interviewing with Saban for the position with the Crimson Tide, but decided to remain with the Huskies.

Saban is also still in the process of replacing the defensive coordinator after Pete Golding left to work under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.

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KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.