Tommy Rees Brings New Energy, Confidence to Alabama Offense
"There's nowhere else that we want to be," Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said in a loud and crowded Crimson Tide locker room. "There's nowhere else you'd want to be rather than at this stadium with your brothers."
Addressing the players of the White Team in front of an overhead projector at the home locker room of Bryant-Denny Stadium, Rees looks young enough to be one of the players himself. At the age of 30, if he were to exchange his crimson polo shirt and white hat in for some shoulder pads and a helmet, he'd fit right in with the players that he was addressing.
Age, however, is just a number. And when it comes to being the second-youngest offensive coordinator of the Nick Saban era, Rees takes full advantage of it with his energy, enthusiasm and motivational demeanor.
In another life, Rees would be quite the motivational speaker.
During Saturday's A-Day Game, I was given exclusive access to Alabama's sidelines and locker room as a media coach for the team. During that privileged time, I shadowed Rees and followed his every move from pregame in the locker room to the warm-yet-breezy sideline of Bryant-Denny. During that time, one thing stood out above everything else regarding Rees: his connections with his players.
Whether its on the sideline or in the locker room, Rees commands the attention of every player around him. When speaking to the White Team offense after pregame warmups, not a single eye wandered off of Rees as he loudly barked his game plan.
"Set your mentality," Rees said. "We are going to dominate — that's the mentality we have. We will control the line of scrimmage."
It's Rees' emphasis on words like 'are' and 'will' in his speeches that make his players enjoy being around him so much — and that make this former high school football player want to run through a brick wall.
Confidence and poise. Those are two words that can accurately describe Rees.
Joey Blackwell | BamaCentral
After running out onto the field following pregame, with the White Team receiving the football first, it was only seconds before Rees called his first play in front of Alabama fans: an incomplete pass thrown by quarterback Jalen Milroe, intended for wide receiver Kendrick Law.
Rees' first drive lasted six plays before the White Team was ultimately forced to punt. Hunched over on the sidelines with his hands on his knees, he never stopped talking into his headset until the end of the drive. Once Milroe and the rest of the offense returned, Rees followed them to the bench — where the lessons continued.
It was quickly clear that Milroe and fellow quarterback Eli Holstein were not the only participants in the sideline conversations attempting to learn from the experience. After each drive, Rees followed his quarterback to the bench and began to not just give insight but also ask questions of his own. Every drive — regardless of whether it was successful or not — was being used as a learning opportunity.
Throw in some joking and smiles, and Rees' laid-back demeanor quickly became contagious on the bench. Despite the team being down at halftime, even then Rees didn't lose his cool or let it dampen his spirits.
In fact, in the locker room at halftime, he had this to say about the score:
"What is it?" Rees asked to the seated offensive players. "17-7? Don't worry about it."
He began by meeting with the offensive assistants for a brief several minutes before addressing the offense as a whole. Then, just like he did pregame, he split off to talk directly with the quarterbacks while each position group met with their coaches.
When the team reunited, Rees had one word for his players to focus on in the second half.
"Attack — that's the only word you need to think of," Rees yelled to his pumped-up players. "We attack."
Joey Blackwell | BamaCentral
The second half was much like the first. Rees would call plays when his offense was out on the field, always bent over with his hands on his knees, firmly and consistently placed around 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. When the offense returned to the sideline, he would walk with the quarterbacks to the bench. While he primarily spent his time speaking with them, he mixed it up from time to time with other positions groups, especially the offensive line.
When the team scored, Rees was right there celebrating with the players on the sideline with high-fives and a gratuitous amount of butt slaps. Judging off of his camaraderie with the team, it's honestly surprising that he's been with the team less than three months.
Rees is his players' biggest fans, and that feeling appears to be mutual.
"It's been great," wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks said after the game regarding his time with Rees thus far. "He's got great energy on the field, great energy at practice. He always get into detail with us on what we need to be running and how we need to be running it, so I feel like he's going to be great this season coming up."
Junior offensive lineman JC Latham is also a fan of Rees and his energy on top of his offensive play calling.
"I think y'all are gonna be surprised at the offense that he's going to run this coming season," Latham said. "He does a really good job at incorporating a lot of different things, does a really good job at running plays complementary to one another.
"So when it just comes down to what he can do and how he can make the calls — obviously we didn't call everything we have today, but he definitely knows how to call the plays and just scheme it all up so I think y'all are gonna like it."
It wasn't the prettiest of performances for Rees' offense in his public debut with the Crimson Tide. The White Team managed to score just 21 points in the loss and turned the ball over three times — all three being interceptions. Still, a final drive consisting of four plays for 70 yards in 26 seconds ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Milroe to wide receiver Malik Benson.
While the game was out of reach at that point, it was a moral victory for the team in the 30-21 loss.
I said earlier that if there was one thing that stood out to me from my experience on the field as a media coach, it was Rees' connection with his players. That stands true, along with so much more. It is very evident that Rees has developed a very strong relationship with not just his quarterbacks, but his entire offense as a whole.
Considering the progress he's been able to make on that front in such a small amount of time, it's going to be very interesting to see what Rees is able to cook up when given a whole summer to work on his offense and a fall camp to implement it.
See Also:
In the Huddle with Hannon: Takeaways From A-Day 2023
Alabama's A-Day had a Throwback Feel, Which is What This Team Needed
More Questions Than Answers About Alabama QB Competition after A-Day
