Old Nick Saban Quote About Tommy Rees Resurfaces As Browns Name Offensive Coordinator

The ex-Notre Dame quarterback has skyrocketed through the coaching ranks.
Tommy Rees during Alabama's spring game in 2023.
Tommy Rees during Alabama's spring game in 2023. / Gary Cosby-Imagn Images

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."

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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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .