Tommy Rees cannot be the starting quarterback this season because we’re still “talking about this stuff.” He has not made the strides he needed to in order to establish himself as the Number One. Because questions remain, we need to move on from Tommy, as sad and painful as that might be. Remember, they had to shoot Old Yeller, too.
On a gut level, I really, really, really wanted Tommy to work out. Tommy was, to my eye, the honey badger before Tyrann Mathieu burst on the scene. Tommy threw an interception? Tommy don’t care. Tommy got sacked? Look at him! He’s nasty. He doesn’t give a fu**! Tommy’ll lead us down the field! That’s what I thought, mostly to myself, but sometimes out loud. Tommy had a way about him that, I thought, suggested greater things to come. He was unflappable. He couldn’t be flapped.
But, as 2011 wore on, Tommy began to wear on me. I began to wonder whether or not the honey badger himself could read a defense better than Tommy. Parenthetically, I was not debating whether Tyrann Mathieu could read a defense better than Tommy Rees could, that much was certain. Rather, I was actually questioning whether a real honey badger could read a defense better than Tommy. As I watched such tour de force displays as the Pitt game, Wake Forest and, of couse, the Champs Sports Bowl, I watched a young man who was either closing his eyes and hucking it or a young man who was never quite able to fully comprehend that his guys were wearing the same color shirt he was. Maybe names on the uniforms would have been of some help, but I think the FSU game showed us that names don’t matter. Maybe if they were on the front.
In the credit where credit is due department, though, Tommy Rees, Michael Floyd and Tyler Eifert were one heck of a threesome at times. Sometimes because Tommy threw a perfect pass, e.g. Tommy to Michael in the corner of the end zone against Wake Forest game or Tommy to Tyler seventy-seven times during the final four minutes of the fourth quarter of the Pitt game. Sometimes, because Michael or Tyler made a play that only they could make. All that aside, I do not want my “anti-Tommy Rees’ position to be construed in any way that I think he’s worthless or a bad guy or that there’s anything personal at all. Fact of the matter is that he was the starting QB at Notre Dame and that counts for something. He’s a student at Notre Dame. I am a forty year old. I don’t think grown men should call young men’s character into question over football. Les Miles, I am talking to you.
I just think we need to do better this year.
Early in the 2011 season, on the eve of the Purdue game, Coach Kelly gave an interview to the Chicago Tribune. Commenting on Tommy’s performance in the Pitt game the week before, Coach said “you can put together an incredible highlight reel with Tommy Rees this year. And you could also put together a blooper film. So it’s really being able to gain that consistency of play after play after play. And a lot of that is learning and experience, and that’s where we’re at. That’s this year. We better not be talking about this stuff next year or there will be another quarterback playing.”
Flash forward to pre-season 2012 and Coach is back in the Trib speaking about our new OC, Chuck Martin, saying that Martin “…knows what [Coach Kelly] is looking for in an offense he conceded has not met expectations thus far.” Here we are, talking about Tommy.
Here we are, two practices into the spring and we’re talking about Tommy’s consistency and his big play ability. In this man’s opinion, Tommy had his Eight Mile “one shot” and instead of “owning it”, he ended up with his mom’s spaghetti” all down the front of his grey hoodie and white t-shirt. If great quarterbacks are like great lead singers, what’s Tommy going to do now that his Bobby Brown, his Jonny Marr, has left the band? In my opinion, a Tommy Rees-led offense in 2012 will be more like New Edition from 1985 to 1988 (what we all remember as the Wilderness Years, the years before Johnny Gill) than like Morrissey’s triumphant 1988 release of Viva Hate.
The inescapable truth about Tommy is that while his percentage of interceptions as a total of his throws went down in 2011, the number of interceptions went up. TO FOURTEEN! And that’s just interceptions! We haven’t even gotten to his unparalleled ability to fumble the ball. To drill down to a positively-trending metric gives false support because you have to ignore the only thing that really matters: winning. If you were to ask Charlie Sheen if Tommy Rees is “weak” or “winning!” I am confident that the Sir Lawrence Olivier of our time would respond with an equally confident, “weak”.
Grantland-X makes a good point about the importance of consistency, on a program-level. That being said, Tommy has been consistently inconsistent from 2010 through 2011. I don’t think Tommy deserves to start based on his past record and I don’t think Tommy deserves to start simply because he started last year. Remember Dayne Crist?
I don’t mean to throw Dayne under the bus. I loved him. All the talent in the world, a heckuva great guy off the field, and pretty damn good looking. Right? I mean, we can admit that? Can’t we? But he treated footballs on the two yard line like they were acid-covered porcupines. He was Fredo to Coach Kelly’s Michael Corleone. “I know it was you, Dayne. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!” Dayne was insanely more gifted than Tommy, but Dayne collapsed in critical moments and he lost the job.
Tommy’s more experienced than Hendrix or Golson. No doubt. But that experience is cold comfort to me, for he didn’t get better as the 2011 season went on. In fact, on a lot of levels, he got worse, or, almost as importantly, he seemed to get worse. And as one of the least appealing physical specimens on the planet, I am a huge proponent of never judging a book by its cover. But, in the case of a starting QB, perception matters. I mean, weren’t you stunned by the end of the Pitt game last year? Did you not leave the game or turn off the set and say “where’d that kid come from?” or “where was THAT Tommy Rees all game?” Honestly. If you didn’t, you didn’t watch the game. He was brilliant (and so was Eifert) for the last drive. But he was SO BAD the other two hundred and forty-seven minutes. And was he any good against FSU?
Now, other than statistics, wins, losses, and Coach Kelly’s own words, I haven’t offered a lot of examples of why I am right and why Grantland-X is wrong. So, let me get to one: Kevin McDougal. Before leading us to a Number One ranking in 1993 and leading us back against Boston College the next week only to have Pete Bercich drop that interception (“You broke my heart. You broke my heart!”), Kevin threw a total of 21 passes, completing 14, in the previous three seasons. As a starter, though, Kevin was pretty darned good. Just watch:
I don’t want to hear about the talent that Kevin had around him. Do you really think that Aaron Taylor, Oscar McBride, Lake Dawson, Derrick Mayes, Ray Zellers and Lee Becton made Kevin that much better? Don’t answer that question. Do you really think that a defense with Jeff Burris, Bobby Taylor, Greg Lane, Jim Flanigan, John Covington and Bryant Young helped much? Not that much. Fact is, Kevin took over from a relatively talented, consistent starter (who just happened to be the Number Two overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft) and ran a consistent, productive offense. Are you telling me that any of those guys I just named are better than Te’o, Shembo, Lynch, Nix III, Floyd or Eifert? They might be, I don’t know. But the point is that Kevin was a steady hand on the rudder. Tommy Rees has been Captain Shakey.
Hendrix and Golson bring a Kelly-friendly QB to the offense and a multi-dimensional threat that opposing defenses MUST take into account. Did anyone ever worry that Tommy would tuck and run? Let me rephrase that: did anyone not rooting for the Irish to win ever worry that Tommy would tuck and run?
To sum up, at long last, Tommy had his chance(s). He won us some games and he’s good guy. I just don’t think he’s our present or our future. We need consistency at the quarterback position, especially now that we’ve lost Michael Floyd. Let’s start that consistency today: with Hendrix and Golson.
Hating Hurricanes Since 1990.
Bayou Irish is a Jersey boy and Double Domer who fell under New Orleans' spell in 1995. He's been through Katrina and fourteen years in the Coast Guard, so we cut him some slack, mostly in the form of HLS-subsidized sazeracs. But, when he's not face down on the bar and communing with the ghosts of Faulkner and Capote at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, he's our man in SEC-land, doing his best to convince everyone around him that Graduation Success Rate is a better indicator of success than the number of MNC's won in the last five years.
- Finding Flaws in a Diamond: Clemson’s Rushing Offense - December 17, 2018
- Why Nobody Will Cotton to Notre Dame - December 3, 2018
- Irish Finish Regular Season Perfect 12-0 - November 26, 2018
We must start a QB that can run, end of discussion. Not trying to sell our first two games next year short, but if our defense plays great, then we can use them as tune ups for a new starter to get ready for the night game against Michigan.
Youre absolutely right that Tommy was not consistent last year. Sophomore QB’s normally arent. Thats why you cant say Hendrix or Golson will be. It appears as though the way the competition is being run this spring is that it is strictly based off of what happens this spring/fall. Also looks like Tommy has been working on his deep ball a little bit, based on some of the videos. We can reasonably assume that Gunner will be out of the mix by the end of spring, and we will be left with, at most, Tommy, Hendrix, and Golson. I think a large part of this depends on what direction Martin takes the offense. I think Rees will have to show he is leaps and bounds better than Hendrix and Golson, in order to keep their athletic ability from overshadowing him. Now, if Rees shows an improved deep ball, and ability to tuck and run a little, its a different story. But I’m not counting on it and my money is on Hendrix to win the job.
Hendrix is actually a junior. But he was red shirted.
Why can’t I say Hendrix or Golson will be more consistent over someone who has demonstrated a failure to be consistent, to protect the football or otherwise steward the offense? Kiel’s gotta be a red-shirt, so you look at Hendrix and Golson and they both have more athleticism than Tommy. They can create on their own versus Tommy who needs a mile of space to gain a yard with his feet. My comparison with McDougal was meant to illustrate that: Kevin wasn’t the world’s best passer, but he did what he needed to do to keep the play alive and he didn’t turn the ball over much. Tommy has, I think, slowed the development of Kelly’s offense. That’s why I put those two quotes from Coach in there. I don’t doubt he’s sincere that the competition is open, but the fact that we’re having the competition in the first place doesn’t speak highly of Tommy’s chances to hold onto the starter’s job.
You could say that they will be more consistent, but you would just be making a mindless claim. The point that CJGunnz is making, and that GrantlandX made, is that Tommy being inconsistent isn’t a problem of Tommy — it is a problem that is inherent in all young, inexperienced quarterbacks. It’s part of the learning curve. Even if you believe Hendrix or Golson will be more consistent, to guarantee it is ridiculous. We have never seen Golson step onto an NCAA field, and Hendrix completed only 48% of his passes in limited action last year. Additionally, in the Bowl Game vs FSU he showed that he also is capable of making ridiculous freshman mistakes, when he threw about a 4 yard INT into the chest of a FSU LB that wasn’t within 15 yards of an ND receiver.
Yes, that was a poor pass by Hendrix. But was it worse than the lazy fly ball Rees threw to FSU’s free safety that was supposed to go to John Goodman? Or the locked-in-on-Floyd INT in the endzone? You’re right about a learning curve – but grow up quickly, Andrew! And use Navy and Purdue to get out the butterflies and the wrinkles.
There is a difference between a young QB struggling and what Tommy has done. Solid, young QBs will give you flashes of brilliance among their mistakes. Tommy though, costly turnovers in the red zone, horribly inaccurate passes (especially on the long ball), and constant issues at the line of scrimmage with false start and delay of game calls in a fast paced offense that wasn’t exactly fast paced.
You say that claiming another QB would be more consistent is a “mindless claim”, well, so is claiming that Tommy will put it together next season.
Kelly tried to go with your logic before: Crist. In all honesty, Crist had better physical tools than Rees did, as well as experience, but that didn’t matter at all. Carlyle Holiday had loads of experience as well and not only that, had a 10-3 season the year prior. Yet he too found himself taking a backseat to the then freshmen Quinn.
Continuity is great, but only if continuity is the best option. Considering that there is even a debate about this issue should raise some red flags about Rees.
I would actually argue that by Kelly choosing Crist over Rees last year, he was siding with your logic. He was valuing the flashy, “sexy” physical abilities over intangibles like toughness, leadership, and just ability in the clutch. Despite you arguing like Tommy has never accomplished ANYTHING, he has made several game-winning drives with good quarterback play.
I never once have argued that Tommy has failed to accomplish anything. My argument is he isn’t the best option for the 2012 season. Again, I point to Carlyle Holiday: he had skins on the wall, but found the bench when he feel flat on his face.
Further, all of the “flashy, sexy, physical abilities” more often than not will make player A a better football player than player B. Intangibles can only go so far.
Since we are having the discussion, it means Tommy is not the starter. The only way Tommy is the starter is if Hendrix/Golson spit the bit. Badly. A tie between Tommy and either of them goes to Hendrix/Golson. Rees is a good kid, and he represents ND well. I agree with CJ that Kiel is likely a redshirt.
There are two intangibles in this decision process. First, is who the team rallies around. McDougal is a good example. The team rallied around McDougal. Admittedly, Powlus got hurt, but there is no way a career back-up comes in and takes over and does well unless the team is fully onboard. The offense McDougal ran was ill suited to his skill set as well. He was not an option QB, he had been a pro style QB in HS.
Second, and it is somewhat dependent on the first, is who executes the plays better. You don’t need a thick play book, but you do need to execute the plays you do run ruthlessly. McDougal did that as well.
My gut tells me that the team will rally around Hendrix/Golson, not as much the other two. I think the team sees Rees’ limitations as much as any of us. Of course, we don’t see practice so we won’t know who can execute better. I liked Hendrix’ honest self-assessment from the Saturday presser. It sounded like a young man who had learned a lot about himself the hard way and basically admitted he was not able to execute last year. He seemed to blame himself for not challenging more for the job. That can lead to a leadership role.
“Let me rephrase that: did anyone not rooting for the Irish to win ever worry that Tommy would tuck and run?”
Exactly.
I think the only question with this new OC is whether Hendrix or Golson wins.
I personally think Hendrix is the man. Pre-med student should mean he is smart enough and very disciplined. It’s my understanding that Golson has problems holding on to the football and we certainly don’t need any more of that. Experience is important but talent is talent. Gunner Kiel will probably red shirt this year but keep in mind that he ran a similar offense in high school. Yes there will be a few new wrinkles and trick plays but the basics are there. I likeTommy Rees too but 8-5 at Notre Dame is unacceptable. Remember when 10 wins was a bad season? Now we would settle for 10 wins every season. Someone needs to step up and be the clear winner at Qb. My money is On Hendrix.
Was that the Bus at 1:06 of the McDougal clip?
Well written Bayou Irish, entertaining and engaging. I think you lost me on the Morrissey/New edition metaphors, but that had to be at least semi-intentional? It’s true Tommy hasn’t been great. But he likely will improve, is anybody really denying that? If Golson or Hendrix isn’t better than an improved Tommy, then Tommy it is. Kelly could always switch horses midstream. But in a good way.