Tommy Rees’ college career wasn’t always easy. Most obviously, the current Alabama football offensive coordinator was a backup quarterback for the 2012 Notre Dame team, which took a national title game shellacking at the hands of the Crimson Tide.

“That happened like that, that game,” Rees said Thursday at a Rose Bowl media availability. “Like the quickest– it was like we showed up, we’re excited, and then, boom, it was over. I remember Sweet Home Alabama playing, walking off the field. They were clearly better than we were.”

That wasn’t all of it though. Rees was the backup quarterback for that game.

Everett Gholston was the starter for the Fighting Irish for the season, Rees’ junior year. Rees had been the full-time starter as a sophomore, but after struggling with turnovers and the addition of the highly-touted Gholston, he’d lost his job.

“It was a ridiculously hard situation for Tommy,” Rees’ Notre Dame offensive coordinator and current Miami of Ohio head coach Chuck Martin told AL.com before the season. “He’s the returning starter and we displaced him without and open competition, which is hard to swallow when you’re the starter, us saying ‘We’re going with this guy.’”

Things worked out alright for Rees back in college. After Gholston was dismissed from Notre Dame, he found himself right back as the starter for the Irish.

The team went 8-4 and Rees had a good season. He got to go out on a high note, remembered as “Touchdown Tommy” or “Reesus” in South Bend.

“So kind of the folk hero in ‘12 and back starting his last year,” Martin said. “Where most kids would have ran and transferred. Who knows (if he had transferred), he probably wouldn’t be the OC at ‘Bama right now.”

‘He held himself accountable’

Rees once again had to show some mental toughness this season. He joined the Crimson Tide in the offseason, leaving the same offensive coordinator job at his alma mater to learn under Nick Saban.

For a 31-year-old coach, it seemed like an ideal situation. Then, the Alabama offense struggled.

“There’s nobody that thought that we were playing well early in the year,” Saban said Wednesday. “…We all had to overcome a rough start and a lot of adversity in the beginning.”

Alabama lost to Texas in Week 2. During crunch time, the offense lacked any punch that would have got the Tide back into the game.

In Week 3, UA won at South Florida. But the offense looked even worse, with regular starter Milroe sitting in favor of Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson.

The chorus declaring Alabama’s dynasty dead took up its familiar tune from the outside. Much of the blame was sent in Rees’ direction.

Inside the program, he never panicked.

“He held himself accountable before anybody else,” offensive tackle JC Latham said. “He definitely told everybody that it’s his fault, that he should do better and we as the players can rally behind somebody like that.”

Rees encouraged his unit. Instead of dwelling on how poorly things had gone, he pointed out how close they were to success.

A missed block here, a wrong move there. A lot of almost-touchdowns for Rees to show off.

“I remember early in the season saying who we want to be and who we are two different things,” Rees said. “Who we thought we were going to be or who we can be are going to be two different things and that’s OK. Let’s just work to find ways to build who we are and what we can do and build around it.”

After the South Florida debacle, Ole Miss was on the schedule. Lane Kiffin created a show that week, claiming Kevin Steele wasn’t calling Alabama’s defense, and the Tide seemed vulnerable to an upset at the hands of the undefeated Rebels.

Alabama won that game, with the offense looking much improved. That started with Milroe, who was named the long-term starter after the South Florida game.

Milroe’s turnaround saved the Crimson Tide’s season. It seemed a bit familiar: a quarterback battling through a benching to find success.

But Rees wasn’t taking much credit for the improvement.

“I have my own experiences that I can lean on and I have a unique perspective that way, but Jalen’s growth and Jalen’s ability to fight through adversity and be mentally tough has nothing to do with me as a player,” Rees said. “I think I can be a sounding board. I can relate back to my own experiences. But again, that credit goes to Jalen and his ability to keep pushing and keep working and want to develop into the player that he’s been.”

Now it’s playoff time. Rees has been here before as a coach, as an offensive assistant on the 2020 Notre Dame team that lost to Alabama.

Michigan has a stout defense, one of the best fronts in the sport. But that’s all part of the job.

Rees came to Tuscaloosa to learn from Nick Saban, and that’s exactly what he’s doing, even with the Rose Bowl looming.

“You take these jobs, you take this opportunity, knowing the challenges that come with it,” Rees said. “For me personally, you want that. You want to be at a place where the expectations are high. You want to be at a place where the demands are high. You want to be at a place where football is important and people care, and you understand what comes with that.”

Alabama and Michigan are set to kick off at 4 p.m. CT Monday in the Rose Bowl. The game will be aired on ESPN.