Tommy Rees Talks Tyler Buchner, Replacing Michael Mayer, Deion Colzie, Notre Dame Bowl Prep

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees discussed a number of different topics after the team's most recent practice. Here's everything Rees had to say about the practice.

Where Tyler Buchner Stands After Missing 10 Games Due To Injury

"I think there's a really good grasp of the totality of what we're trying to do offensively. I attribute some of that to him staying engaged throughout this whole 10-12 week process. I think him being up with us helped some of those things with how he sees the game, the vantage point of it. Like you're always eager to see okay, well, how does he play in the pocket? You know, what's the command? How is it, like is there rust? I thought today was one of really one of his strongest practices he's had in a couple years here. He was really sharp today. You know, he's been smooth. There hasn't been a ton of issues, in terms of what we're asking him to do. I'm proud of the way he stayed engaged and was able to kind of hit the ground running a little bit."

Buchner Playing Behind An Offensive Line That’s Much Improved Since Week Two

"It's a balance of what we asked him to do. I think, when you're able to run the ball and play with a really good front, takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback in terms of you know you can, there's plays, you're going to hand it off, get six, eight yards, and it gets you in a really good spot where, you know, early in the season, we were asking him to create some of that stuff. So I think you mirror traditional running game with the ability of Ty and it gives you an advantage at some spots. He's made some throws from the pocket the last couple of days that were really impressive but it's more about his ability to say I'm going to stay in here maybe slightly move and keep my eyes downfield which, you know, there's some there's some big time plays. And you know, there's some rust we've got to get off and, you know, like some of the timing stuff with motions and communication and those issues, but we'll continue to see how he progresses and see where he is here in a week or so."

Is It An Offensive Overhaul Without Having Michael Mayer?

"You don't want to overhaul it, with the continuity and just, that's probably more you evaluate going into next season where you're at. You don't want to overhaul things too much but, you've got to push other guys in spots to step up and make critical plays. and There's certain plays within a plan that you say, alright this is going to be a (Mayer) target, on third down or high red or we have this look and now you just flip your brain. Like, for the last three years when you look at a defense you're like oh, I can get (Mayer) here and take advantage of this. Or I can light up in this formation and get (Mayer) here and take advantage of this. Now you flip who you're talking about when you look at a formation a little bit, right? You say okay, well if I can get so and so here that gives us an advantage. Obviously he's a heck of a player but, we've got a good group you and we want to stay with our identity and put some guys in spots to go make plays and critical moments, but it'll be a little different. You know, Mike's a hell of a player."

Opportunities For Tight Ends Holden Staes and Mitchell Evans With Michael Mayer Gone

"You continue to blend what those two do you. We're still going to ask them to operate the offense the way we want to run it and we're not going to put ourselves at any sort of fault if it's not what we're getting out. But I think those guys have a skill set that allows them to play on the ball and split out like that's kind of what we recruited at tight end here. You know, you got to have the ability to do both. There's not a lot of one trick ponies in that room. Mike did that at the highest level. You know, you see him blocking and really dominating at the point of attack and then also he has the ability and really no one in the country can cover him. The Mackey Award, I guess doesn't agree with it, but no one in the country can really cover him. That's what we recruit here at tight end. We have guys with that same skill set. Now, Mike was at the highest level, but we can still maximize what they do and there's probably 115 schools in the country that would like our tight ends. So we're going to continue to put them in great spots."

Reserve Offensive Linemen Who Have Stood Out

That whole group has the ability to go in there and help us. You know, (Andrew) Kristofic's a guy who has played a bunch for us in the past and over the last couple of weeks we've really seen a step forward with him. I think there's confidence with his ability. A guy like Tosh Baker, there's confidence in his ability. He's moved around a little bit but talk about a kid that comes every day with a hungry work ethic and a great attitude and someone you just want to keep developing and pushing to get them to reach their potential. Those two have done a nice job for us and their attitude here is pretty consistent and happy to see where they're at and where they can be moving ahead. Obviously, there's a couple guys up front that won't be here (next season) and so we've got challenges and competition ahead."

What Was Buchner Doing When He Was In The Coach’s Box On Game Days?

"He was not on a headset because that's illegal. So let's just get that clear. I think he was charting some of the stuff for the (graduate assistants) in terms of play call. He would always set his eyes where the quarterback's eyes were supposed to be set so that if I needed an extra vantage point, he would say, hey .... this is what it looked like front side or wherever the eyes were supposed to go. So he was valuable there because he hears the play call, he's able to look at the defense from the same vantage point. If I'm looking at something different, he was always able to look at it and know where the quarterback, based on a great view, is supposed to put his eyes. So if we had an error or something, I could always look to him and he'd say, the corner sloughed off or something, right? Then he was able to help those (graduate assistants) with some of that stuff."

How Wide Receiver Deion Colzie Came On Strong In The Second Half Of The Season

"He just kept working. I think (receivers coach Chansi Stuckey) did a really nice job with continuing to develop him and confidence is such a critical momentum swinger, right? Like, I always use the Miles Boykin example. But you go make a couple of plays and you have confidence that you can do it, your game is going to continue to increase and your trust from the coaches your trust from the quarterback is going to continue to increase. He was hurt, came back, kept working, kept working and string good practices together. Believe it or not, practice is so critical to what happens on Saturday. If you practice well and make plays in practice, well, guess what? You're going to get an opportunity in games. He did that and then when he had his opportunities in games, he was able to make those plays. A lot of digs on third down. Obviously made the play against SC there down the stretch. But there's a ton of confidence that he has right now and our quarterbacks have confidence that he's going to be there in the right spot and be able to win on critical downs."

What Rees Likes About Steve Angeli

"I think it starts with the demeanor of the kid. He's got a little bit of like a quiet swagger to him, like a confidence in which he plays. I think he's pretty natural with movements, with how the ball comes out of his hand, he's innately accurate. I think this year, like you always look for silver linings when injuries and things like that happen. For Steve to be up with us all last 12 weeks, that's critical for his development moving forward, right? Like he probably would have been on scout team all year if things don't happen the way they do. He had to be in every game plan meeting, had to be on the field, take reps, take reps versus looks that he doesn't know, learn from making mistakes learn from making good plays. I think the ability for him to learn this year is so critical for his movement forward. The skill set is is natural, which is easy, it's smooth. But then the personality of the kid, like there's some confidence there when he steps on the field that he knows he can go make some plays and make some throws. And when he gets rolling, I think he's going to be a good player for us."

Can The Success Jack Coan Had Last Year Help In Recruiting A Transfer QB This Offseason?

"I think again Jack was the right person, right, and that's what we're after. We're looking for the right guy to come in here and make an impact of how he can. Jack was such a positive impact on the room. That's the part of this, like there's an ecosystem in the quarterback room that we want to keep intact. It has to be the right person and Jack was that. So we're constantly looking for that and he's a great example of coming in and working hard and doing things the right way and having an opportunity to play for us."

Could Angeli Have Been With The “Varsity” Offense Before Buchner’s Injury Rather Than Scout Team?

"It's probably hard, right? Because you only get so many reps and it's really ones and twos. To say you're going to throw a three out there, it's a little bit harder. He probably gets more from being on scout team just from the speed of the game, if you're only taking two or three reps a day. You know, if the ones take five reps and the twos take three, and you do that for seven sets, it's 21 reps with the twos. You know, if he got six of those reps, is that as valuable as 40 reps versus the first team defense, right? Probably not. You've got to find ways to be creative that way and get guys reps. I think it's the type of situation where if you see a guy that you feel like, might be ready faster like we did with (Buchner) last year, then we'll maybe there's a package in which he's playing. Like we had all three (quarterbacks) up last year but we knew (Buchner) had a specific place where he was blended with the ones and the twos. So it wasn't just stealing reps from the second group."

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