to develop a QB while at ND. So does ND get a new transfer QB every year that someone else coached up? At some point you are going to have to deal with a first time starter. IMO the play calling for Buchner and the offense was really bad. It was very predictable and defenses loaded up the box to stop the run. Rees didn't adjust. He kept running. Regardless of how I may feel about who I think best fits the offense as a QB, the fact that Rees never adjusted while using Buchner tells me he isn't good enough. He may know this or that about offense but great HC or OC know how to adapt on the fly. Kelly was poor at it and so is Rees. Now it's up to Freeman to recognize it and do something about it.
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Seriously, how does a 20 year old male in a P5 S&C program manage to look like that?
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homer but it's the truth. The biggest questions are: Is there legitimate progress through year end? If so, does that lean toward the co-OC option or just a rip and replace.
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There are plenty of first-year starters who have played well, most notably Jameis Winston.
Tyler Buchner showed enough accuracy and ability last year to give the coaches every reason to think, a year later, he would be even better. And (sorry to be a broken record) Drew Pyne did not have a great start to the Cal game, likely due to nerves, but once he got settled in he did pretty good. Give him another game or two to see how he handles being the starter.
As for Rees, I don't buy the "he only knows Kelly's system" rant or "he's not experienced enough" rant. He's spent most of his life in football. He frequently changed plays at the line of scrimmage for Notre Dame. He spent a whole year learning the Chargers system and a year at Northwestern. That's more than adequate time to learn other philosophies. Having said that, we (including I) are all disappointed at the offense's struggles this year. It can't be a lack-of-experience thing, or "Hiestand is coaching out all the bad habits of the O-line," as other teams with lesser-talented players are not having these same issues. So what is up with Rees? My best guess he's playing too safe and predictable, perhaps because of his own limited abilities as a QB.
As a golf teacher, I see the same fault in other golf teachers, that if something works for them, then it must work for all their students, too. I'm hopeful Al Golden and maybe Gerad Parker, who spent two years as West Virginia's OC, are offering some input. I still think Rees has the mind and acumen to be great, but he definitely needs to change something.
Missed a whole season of HS, missed time last year despite only playing a few series a game and missed the Spring Game.
I realize that no one expected him to miss the whole season, but Freeman and Rees should have known they would likely need another QB to make it through the year and it wouldn't have hurt Buchner to have real competition for the job.
Buchner and Pyne's performances last year were uninspiring and well below average. We all saw it. The quarterback ratings showed it also. Insert a decent QB like the ones mentioned in the post and you surely have a 2-1 or maybe even a 3-0 record.
Check Notre Dames QB ratings throughout the first 3 games and you have 110 or more teams with better ratings. Notre Dame should have gotten a wide receiver from the portal also. Besides Styles, I don't think any of the receivers would be a starter for any of today's top 25 teams.
The article was spot on on all accounts, including Rees. He has done absolutely nothing so far to be considered a decent OC. No QB recruiting, no QB development and no QB recruited this year. None, zilch, zero. Let's keep plodding along with our terrific duo for next year too, with the addition of another very average QB in Angeli. I never thought I would miss our last two very average QBs in Book and Coan but I sure do.
Hopefully Freeman realizes what a huge mistake he made during the offseason by trusting Rees and fixes it permanently during the offseason or he won't last long.
and 19th over the whole season for 2021. So again, let's let the kid get another game or two under his belt before writing him off.
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player development (haven't seen much), identification of strengths and weaknesses of both the opponent and one's own team, implementation, execution and evaluation. To date, Rees has shown no ability - and this goes back to his time coaching under Kelly - to really excel at any of these job requirements. Compare his background and experience to that of the guy coaching UNC's offense and tell me Rees was/is ready to be the ND OC.
While playing with Buchner all we saw was run, run, run even while the run was being stopped. I may not be a Buchner fan but I wanted to see Rees adjust to a style like Pyne got against Cal. Maybe Buchner fails but at least it shows that the OC recognized the run heavy approach wasn't working and attempted to change and attack a different aspect of the defense.
Against a power 5 team yet.
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