Cleveland Browns Make Key Hire For Offensive Coordinator Role

It took just a little over a week for the Cleveland Browns to land their new offensive coordinator. Fortunately, they didn't have to look too far.

According to reports, the team officially came to terms with tight end coach and passing game specialist Tommy Reese to fill the void left after it fired Ken Dorsey just nine days ago. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN was first to report the Browns key offensive hire.

#Browns have reached an agreement with assistant coach Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator, per source.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 14, 2025

Rees joined Cleveland's staff in his aforementioned role this past season, after spending a year as the offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2023, working alongside Nick Saban before he retired. Prior to that, Reese – a former Notre Dame quarterback – held the same role with his Alma Mater from 2020-2022.

While Rees doesn't have any play-calling experience at the NFL level, his stock was on the rise in league circles. Over the course of the last week there have been plenty of rumors swirling about the possibility of Rees being a potential OC candidate for Mike Vrabel once he landed his next head coaching gig with the New England Patriots over the weekend. The former Titans head man developed a nice relationship with Rees while serving as a consultant for the Browns this season.

During his end of season press conference Kevin Stefanski noted that he would they would be interviewing internal candidates for the job, which turned out to be Rees. He was first up to interview for the job according to multiple reports. He'll now get to work alongside Stefanski to help the Browns offense recapture its identity, which seemed to be lost during the 2024 campaign.

In total, the Browns conducted five different interviews for the position, including veteran offensive mind Darrell Bevel – and ex-Saints OC Klint Kubiak, both of whom worked closely with Stefanski on the Minnesota Vikings. The other two candidates, like Rees, would have been first time NFL play-callers in Kevin Seahawks QB coach Charles London and Falcons TE coach Kevin Koger. Ultimately, Stefanski settled on the up-and-coming Rees.

At 32, Rees instantly becomes one of the youngest coordinators in the NFL. It's unclear at this time if his job description will include handling play-calling duties for the browns next season.

In his first four years in Cleveland, Stefanski handled the play-calling, something he retained for the start of the 2024 season but eventually passed off to Ken Dorsey after the team got off to a 1-6 start. Stefanski could ultimately opt for taking those responsibilities back in next fall, with Rees serving in a supporting role to help design the game-plan each week and provide i