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Tommy Rees gets 1st interview for Browns offensive coordinator job, but more to come
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- Tommy Rees gets 1st interview for Browns offensive coordinator job, but more to come
The Browns have started the process for replacing Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator. The first interview was the easiest to arrange because it was already inside the building, but more are to come.
Tommy Rees, who spent this past season as the Browns ' tight ends coach/pass game specialist, received an interview on Wednesday, a league source confirmed for the Beacon Journal. Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot was the first to report he was getting an interview.
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Rees, though, won't be the last. A league source said head coach Kevin Stefanski still has other interviews lined up for both Thursday and Friday.
On Thursday, the Browns interviewed current Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Darrell Bevell. On Friday, they're scheduled to speak with Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Charles London.
The 32-year-old Rees has been highly thought of inside of the Browns' facility since he was hired a year ago. While his NFL coaching experience prior to this season had been limited to one year (2016) as a San Diego Chargers offensive assistant, he had already accumulated significant college play-calling reps at two of the biggest programs in the sport: His alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Alabama under Nick Saban.
Cleveland Browns pass game specialist and tight ends coach Tommy Rees addresses media June 13 during mandatory minicamp at team headquarters in Berea, Ohio.
"Yeah, I mean, I think one, being with the position group I'm with, the tight end group is part of everything," Rees said last week leading into the season finale at the Baltimore Ravens . "Outside of the quarterback, you have to know run game, protection, pass game, how to get open, how to block someone. For me, the personal growth there has been tremendous. Look, when you deal with adversity, you learn a lot and this year has not gone the way any of us had planned for.
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"But I think when you're faced with those times, you learn in different ways and you learn how to keep moving forward, how to keep coaching guys, how to make sure that you're week in, week out putting your guys in positions to have success. Sometimes you learn more in these types of situations than you do when everything's going great."
Rees' father, Bill, was a long time NFL scout and personnel director. Among his stops was with the Browns as the Director of Player Personnel/College Scouting under general manager Phil Savage from 2004-08, when the younger Rees was a teenager.
Rees played quarterback at Notre Dame, then eventually returned to his alma mater, first as quarterbacks coach (2017-19) and then as offensive coordinator (2020-22). He spent the 2023 season as the Alabama offensive coordinator in Saban's final year of coaching.
College football made a run at Rees during the season, as the University of North Carolina interviewed him twice for their head-coaching vacancy. The school eventually pulled the stunning move of hiring Bill Belichick to be the head coach.
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"Those opportunities come about," Rees said. "I had a good experience there, but my focus has been on the season, and I'd rather just keep things looking ahead here and making sure that we have an opportunity to have a good practice and a good game this weekend. But those opportunities come and I'm fortunate for things like that, but my focus has been mainly here."
(This story has been updated with new information.)
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tommy Rees gets 1st Browns offensive coordinator interview, not last
