Throw another name on the list in Michigan Football’s head coaching search. On Thursday, Mary Kay Cabot, a Cleveland Browns beat writer for Cleveland.com, reported that Michigan is interested in the Cleveland Browns offensive
coordinator Tommy Rees.
Many of us are somewhat familiar with Rees since he played at Notre Dame, going 1-1 against Michigan.
If you haven’t stayed on top of where he’s been, here’s the rundown — Rees started coaching in 2015 with another familiar name, Pat Fitzgerald. For that season, the Northwestern Wildcats went 10-3 and finished the season with a trip to the Outback Bowl and a Top-25 ranking.
Rees also worked as a quarterbacks coach for several years. He was at Notre Dame from 2017-22, starting as the quarterbacks coach before working his way into the offensive coordinator position. He worked with Ian Book, who is second in career passing yards (8,948) and is the winningest quarterback in school history.
Rees then went to Alabama in 2023 to be the Tide’s offensive coordinator, and we all know how their season ended that year — in a loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl. (Don’t we all just wish time could stop there for just a bit longer?)
After one season, he moved up to the NFL to be the pass game specialist and tight ends coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2024 before being promoted to his current role before the 2025 season.
If there’s one thing from breaking down his history in coaching that’s appealing, it’s Rees’ work with quarterbacks over the years. He also has experience as a quarterback, which could help if Bryce Underwood decides to stick it out in Ann Arbor. He might not have the head coaching experience many of us are hoping for, but I also think we can all agree this isn’t the worst coaching candidate with ties to Notre Dame — that’s always going to be Brian Kelly.
For what it’s worth, Pro Football Talk had an article on Thursday claiming Penn State was interested in Rees during its hiring process, too. According to that article, Rees is “focused on the Browns,” so we’ll have to wait and see what comes of the coaching search in the coming weeks and how interested Michigan truly is in him.
