Tom Rees Notebook: 3/27
Notre Dame quarterbacks coach Tom Rees spoke about the spring progress of his quarterback room on Tuesday morning.
On Brandon Wimbush blocking out negative noise:
“There are two aspects to it. One, you need to learn how to handle the outside noise. The best thing you can do is limit the outside exposure you have to it. You don’t need to be on your phone, reading Twitter or articles. It’s one thing I harp on him. When he’s in the building, trust in the people that are here. These are the people that know what you’re going through and have your back during the ups and downs.
“The second thing is as you become an older quarterback, you start to manage things a little better. The biggest thing with Brandon is keeping his confidence up. Every time you step on the field, you should believe you’re the best player on the field. There are games he has taken over because of his ability.
“Confidence is huge at the position, especially at this University and something that comes more naturally as you get older.”
On blocking out the early noise himself:
“Early on, no. It was a struggle. You’re tempted to look at what people are saying because you care what people think. As you get older, you start to learn that all that matters is when you’re in this building and when you’re on the field with your teammates is there opinion. Everything else will take care of itself.
“If you work hard and do the right things, good things will come. My freshman year and even my sophomore year that stuff got to me a little bit. It probably took making a mistake off the field to learn how to block all that out.”
On message to Wimbush after the Citrus Bowl:
“Nothing changes. We talked as soon as the game was over. When he steps into the building, you expect to be the guy. The same thing goes for Ian. You come to work with that attitude.
“The good thing about our room is we are a close-knit group. Ian, Brandon and Avery are close. We’ve built those relationships, so when situations like that come up, it’s a team decision. We’re in it to win the game. They support one another like a brother. Their relationship helps litigate some of that too.”
On quarterback competition:
“They are both getting a ton of work. They are getting the opportunity to make plays with the first and second group. We’re going to evaluate it as it keeps going.”
On teaching his quick decision making to his quarterbacks:
“I couldn’t run so I had to make quick decisions. As you get older, you start to understand defense, and that’s when you can play at a quicker tempo. The game starts to slow down, and you see exactly what the defense is trying to do and where your outlets are and where the playbook helps you out.
“The biggest thing is recognizing the defense and then understanding the playbook. If you understand what the defense is trying to do, then you know where your answers are, and it gives you the opportunity to play fast.”
On Wimbush’s ability to play fast:
“He’s taken huge strides. By no means is he a finished product and he shouldn’t get complacent. His understanding of the offense and what the defense is trying to do has grown exponentially.
“That comes with live reps and his work off the field. It’s my job to teach it. He and Ian have come a long way in understanding what we’re trying to do and where we’re trying to get the ball.”
On Wimbush working with quarterback coaches on breaks:
“There are a ton of consistencies there, and it’s something you make sure of too. You have to manage some of that as a coach. You have to make sure he’s getting a consistent message. Brandon is good at communicating that and asking what I think.
“We have a great dialogue. It’s never been an issue of him getting an outside voice and contradicting what we’re doing.
“In terms of getting extra work, I’m very limited in what I can do with the quarterbacks when we break from spring ball. When he gets a routine and gets into a good rhythm, he’s putting in work to prepare himself.”
On Ian Book raising his game:
“The biggest thing he needs to push is being sharp mentally, and accuracy can never be an issue with Ian. He has to be the most accurate quarterback we have. He has to recognize the coverage and put the ball exactly where it needs to be.
“He needs to recognize coverage and push himself to understand where we are trying to deliver the ball and be as accurate as anyone in the country.
“He can run, but I knew for myself to play, I had to be the smartest guy in the room and the most accurate. He needs to be the sharpest guy and the most accurate to play at a high level.”
On the change in Ian Book since Citrus Bowl:
“Even outside of the Citrus Bowl, when he was asked to come in, Ian did a nice job for us. He needs to be steady throughout the whole process. You see a different mentality and attitude. He’s really attacking and taking ownership when he’s in there.
“I’m proud to see the way he’s responded and come to work every day with the right mentality.”
On coaching from the box or sideline:
“It’s up to Coach Long and Coach Kelly on where I am on game day. Wherever they want me, I’ll be receptive and make it work to help us win games.
“I liked being on the field for the bowl game to look the quarterbacks in the eye and be there as soon as they got off the field, so there was a smooth communication there. We ended up using both guys, and that played to our advantage to have me down there to communicate with both of them.”
On lessons learned during his first season as QB coach:
“I learned a lot from Coach Long, Coach Kelly and everyone on the offensive staff. I learned about football and how to handle your room – how to handle the day to day process of getting guys prepared to play.
“I learned there are different angles you need to take to reach other people. When there are some struggles, you learn how to keep guys confident and teach in different ways to keep them excited.”
On being on the road recruiting:
“It’s been fun. I really enjoy it. You get to meet a lot of great high school coaches around the country and go to a lot of areas. You get to represent a great University. You walk through a door wearing a Notre Dame logo, and it attracts a different kind of attention.
“Recruiting has been fun for me. I like to be myself and have some personality on the road to get to know those people. It’s an easy sell when you’re representing Notre Dame. People gravitate to it.”
On the evaluation of quarterbacks:
“The first thing you want is someone who understands what this place is about. You recruit to the school and not to a certain aspect of the school. You recruit this place in a totality sense.
“You want to find a kid that understands what Notre Dame is about. The second thing is you want a kid that is smart, tough, loves to compete and will come in and mesh well with the University and team.”