Browns working toward hiring ex-Alabama OC Tommy Rees as tight ends coach
BEREA — The Browns are closing in on closing one vacancy on their coaching staff.
Former University of Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and the Browns are working toward an agreement for him to become the team's tight ends coach, a source confirmed to the Beacon Journal. The Athletic's Zac Jackson was the first to report.
The duties for Rees would also involve a role in the Browns' pass-game development. What title he actually adds remains to be determined.
Rees would take over a tight end position group that boasts David Njoku coming off consecutive seasons in which he has set career highs in multiple categories. Njoku had 81 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns last season.
No. 2 tight end Harrison Bryant will be a free agent this spring after the 2020 draft pick's contract has not been extended. Jordan Akins will be on the final year of the two-year contract he signed last offseason.
Rees would replace T.C. McCartney, who spent the previous two seasons in that role. McCartney was not retained by the Browns, along with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and running backs coach Stump Mitchell, last week after their 11-6 regular season turned into an AFC wild card loss to the Houston Texans.
The Browns have interviewed or are scheduled to interview Seattle Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson for the offensive coordinator job. Former Carolina Panthers assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley has interviewed for the running backs coach's position.
Rees, the 31-year-old former University of Notre Dame quarterback spent last season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Alabama. Rees helped develop quarterback Jalen Milroe into a top-10 Heisman Trophy finisher for a Crimson Tide team that went 12-2 and won the SEC championship before losing to Michigan in the College Football Playoffs semifinals in Nick Saban's final season as head coach.
The three years before Reese went to Tuscaloosa, from 2020-22, he held the same positions for Notre Dame under both Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman. In his first year as offensive coordinator, the Irish went 10-2 and lost to Alabama in the playoff semifinals.
Rees was originally hired by Notre Dame in 2017 to be the quarterbacks coach, a position he held exclusively until 2019. He started his coaching career in 2015 as a graduate assistant at Northwestern University, then spent the 2016 season as an offensive assistant in the NFL for the then-San Diego Chargers.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns working toward ex-Alabama OC Tommy Rees as tight ends coach
