Notre Dame Football: Irish name Tommy Rees as Offensive Coordinator and Lance Taylor as Run Game Coordinator

Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish announced today that they are promoting Tommy Rees to the offensive coordinator position and Lance Taylor as the running game coordinator.

The Irish let Chip Long go after the regular season which created opening at both offensive coordinator and the tight ends coach. Tommy Rees was Notre Dame’s quarterbacks coach in 2019 and will continue those duties along with being the offensive coordinator and playcaller. There is still an opening for tight ends coach with no real news on that front.

Lance Taylor served as Notre Dame’s running backs coach, and will now have greater responsibilities as the run game coordinator while working with Tommy Rees.

Kelly statement about Rees:

“After an extensive national search, I’m proud to name Tom Rees our next offensive coordinator. Tom’s ability to connect with our players and staff and accepting and embracing the incredible opportunity in being the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame made him the right choice. While Tom’s leadership ability and knowledge of the game was evident, it was his humble approach to his own development and desire to continue to grow and learn that were also key factors that set him apart in a talented pool of candidates.”

Kelly’s statement about Taylor:

“Lance’s ability to gain consensus within the staff by implementing a running game plan that fits our personnel and is tactically and technically sound makes him a great fit for this position.”

According to reports, Notre Dame went hard after Joe Moorehead, and also kicked the tires with LSU’s Joe Brady as part of their national search

Now, at least, the Irish can get to work on an offense that returns many key pieces back from a unit that averaged over 37 points per game. They will have to replace major stars in Chase Claypool and Cole Kmet, but there is a lot of talent on the roster — and the entire “starting six” of the offensive line is back in 2020.

Besides the tight ends coach, Notre Dame still has to replace Todd Lyght who served as the cornerbacks coach in 2019.

There will be many opinions about this, but it should be made clear that Brian Kelly and Notre Dame appeared to have made this a real search over the last few weeks.