He was not a factor in that three-man quarterback derby while apprenticing behind former five-star recruit Dayne Crist , the heir to five-star Jimmy Clausen , who opted to turn pro, and former walk-on Nate Montana, the son of Notre Dame football quarterback legend Joe.

Rees barely appeared in the contest, and he wasn’t even classified as the best freshman quarterback in his class, with the higher-rated four-star prospect Andrew Hendrix set to enroll in June.

In fact, the younger Montana stole the show in the Blue-Gold Game when his Gold team defeated Crist’s Blue squad 27-19, with Montana completing 18 of 30 passes for 223 yards with three touchdowns to three different targets.

Rees was a prime prospect to get lost in the quarterback shuffle.



So here we are 10 years later … and nobody in the decade-long Kelly era has started more often at quarterback than Rees (23-8 in 31 starts) and earned more saves off the bench — three during the 12-0 regular season campaign in 2012 campaign, not including a start and comeback win over BYU that year.

It was the poised Rees who helped salvage Kelly’s initial campaign when after a 4-5 start, he took over as the starting quarterback for an injured Crist and steered a 4-0 finish.

A decade later, after a three-year stint as the quarterbacks coach during which the Irish posted a 33-6 ledger, the 27-year-old Rees (28 on May 22) has been entrusted to coordinate the Notre Dame offense.

That likewise stemmed in part with his influence during a 6-0 finish after the 45-14 debacle at Michigan Oct. 26. It was the longest winning streak by Notre Dame to end a season since 1992 — the year Rees was born.

Not since former 1945-48 Fighting Irish halfback Terry Brennan took over as the 26-year-old head coach of the Fighting Irish in 1954 has so much coaching responsibility been thrust on someone who might still be deemed in his fledgling stage.

For Rees, it’s more a matter of keeping on the fast track, just as he was 10 years ago when he came out of nowhere to surprise.

He had been scheduled to meet with the media March 17, the second practice of this spring, for the first time since his January promotion. The global takeover of COVID-19 altered those plans, but on Thursday he did engage in the “Notre Dame Minute” hosted by Fighting Irish special teams coordinator/recruiting coordinator Brian Polian.

“To give back to a place that has given me so much, it’s as rewarding as it can get,” Rees said. “It’s also high risk, though, because if things don’t go well, you’re probably not welcome back on campus. You’ve got to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward all the time.

“There’s really nowhere else where I’d want to take on this challenge, to take on this job. It’s something I’ve put a great amount of pride in and something I’ve worked really hard for.”

There is no perceived urgency to dramatically overhaul the offense from what it was, and the head coach still sets the template.

In 2020, Ian Book will be the first third-year starting quarterback since Clausen in 2007-09, the line returns more career starts (114) than at any time in the program’s history, and the 36.8 scoring average last year was the best in Kelly’s 10 seasons, although six to 12 points under the standard of the typical College Football Playoff contenders.

There isn’t a proven alpha figure at running back or wide receiver, but there are enough options to highlight specific assets.

Beyond strategy, the more vital element is building an esprit de corps with running backs coach/run game coordinator Lance Taylor, offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, wide receivers coach Del Alexander and newly hired tight ends coach John McNulty.

“The first thing we want to build offensively is just a great deal of trust between the coaches and the players,” Rees told Polian. “… Moving in the same direction is important.

“One thing we’ve done a lot of is for meetings getting the whole offense together for installs so that everyone is hearing it from one consistent voice — not always mine. Each of our position coaches has the opportunity to get in front of our team and make sure the offense is going in the same direction.”

Unfortunately, getting in front of the team might not occur again until this summer, if then.

There is nothing more elementary in coaching than playing to one’s strengths, which showed in 2017, Rees' first season as the quarterbacks coach.

With a limited passer but dynamic runner at quarterback in Brandon Wimbush, a superb line spearheaded by future top-10 NFL picks Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey, and a seasoned backfield led by Josh Adams, the identity centered on running the ball. Notre Dame finished 7th nationally in that category with a 269.5 average during a 10-3 rebound season from 4-8 the year prior.