As if Brian Kelly and LSU’s trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 4 wasn’t already a highly-anticipated matchup, a wrinkle was added this offseason when Alabama hired its new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.

Rees, who quarterbacked for Kelly at Notre Dame from 2010-2013 and returned as a coach four years later, is replacing Bill O’Brien in Tuscaloosa to guide Nick Saban’s offense this fall. Speaking at the SEC Media Days in Nashville on Monday, Kelly explained why Crimson Tide fans should be excited about its Rees.

“I think he understands the balance of art and science when it comes to playcalling,” Kelly said. “Playcalling is not just about analytics. It’s not just about tendencies. You gotta have a gut feeling. You gotta know when to make those calls. He played the position, he knows it. He can balance those two things. I hope he has great success every game he plays until we play them.”

Rees threw for 61 touchdowns for the Fighting Irish as a player and rose from an offensive graduate assistant at Northwestern in 2015 to ND’s quarterback’s coach in 2017. Rees was promoted under Kelly in 2020 to offensive coordinator and, somewhat surprisingly, stayed with Marcus Freeman after Kelly left for LSU in 2021. Kelly eventually hired Michael Denbrock from Cincinnati.

Rees made his SEC move two seasons later and is expected to help spark the offense regardless of who lines up at quarterback for the Tide. Rees will be looking to avenge an overtime loss Alabama suffered in Death Valley a year ago.

Rees’ impact has already been felt with praise earned from Saban and a couple of veteran players during spring ball. Tyler Buchner, a former recruit and player of Rees’ transferred to Alabama in April.

More Tide football: Alabama’s Tommy Rees named candidate to watch for Northwestern football vacancy

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].