Penn State ended its drawn-out head coaching search when it lured Matt Campbell from Iowa State last Friday. It turns out Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was also a candidate to take over for the ousted James Franklin. Rees conducted a virtual interview with Penn State last week, according to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
This isn’t the first time a college program has shown interest in hiring Rees as its head coach. He was a finalist for the North Carolina job before the high-profile Bill Belichick selection a year ago.
Rees, who quarterbacked at Notre Dame from 2010-13, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Northwestern in 2015. He rose through the ranks to serve as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman from 2020-22. Rees held those same positions on Alabama’s Nick Saban-led coaching staff in 2023.
A few weeks after Saban retired, Rees joined Kevin Stefanski‘s staff as Cleveland’s pass game specialist and tight ends coach in February 2024. After finishing 28th in yards and last in scoring a season ago, the Browns fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and promoted Rees to take his place.
The Browns continue to rank near the bottom of the league in points (29th) and yards (30th) this year, but Rees hasn’t called plays for the whole season. Stefanski handled those duties before passing the reins to the 33-year-old Rees in early November.
The Browns have averaged a paltry 17.2 points per game this season, though that number has improved to 19.4 under Rees. They’ve gotten better quarterback play since rookie fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders took over for rookie third-rounder Dillon Gabriel in Week 12. Sanders threw for 364 yards, a season high for the Browns, in a loss to the Raiders last Sunday. The Browns also scored 29 points, their second-highest total of 2025.
The 3-10 Browns have four games left in what has been another disappointing season. Rees could be on the radar of NFL teams with head coaching vacancies after that. However, his preference is to remain with the Browns, per Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. The Browns want to keep Rees, who’s “viewed as a rising offensive genius,” Cabot writes. Rees is also highly regarded outside the organization, though, and that could make him a name to watch during the upcoming hiring cycle.
While Penn State royally screwed up their head coaching search they ultimately got the right person. Rees being a legit candidate adds to the reason’s why they need to can their A.D