Tommy Rees called the plays for quarterback Jalen Milroe and the Alabama offense in 2023. The Cleveland Browns introduced Rees as their offensive coordinator on Thursday.
Does Rees’ insight on Milroe give the Browns a leg up on the Crimson Tide QB, who will be available in the NFL Draft in April?
“As a person, I have a lot of love for Jalen, a lot of respect for Jalen,” Rees said on Thursday at his introductory press conference. “Obviously, we went through an entire season together. When you’re the play-caller and the quarterback, there’s a great relationship there.
“But I’m really not going to expand much on anybody in the draft right now. Just know that I have a lot of love for Jalen as the man he is and wish him all the best.”
Cleveland has a big question mark at quarterback as it prepares for the 2025 season.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson signed a five-year, $230 million, fully guaranteed contract with the Browns after Cleveland obtained him in a trade with the Houston Texans in 2022. A suspension and injuries have limited Watson to playing in 19 of the Browns’ 51 games in his three seasons with the team, and that trend will continue into his fourth.
Earlier this month, the Browns announced Watson “likely will miss significant time during the 2025 season.” Watson went out for 2024 when he ruptured his right Achilles tendon on Oct. 20. Cleveland reported Watson had ruptured the tendon again and had undergone a second surgery.
The only other quarterback under contract for 2025 with Cleveland is Dorian Thompson-Robinson. During the 2024 season, Watson started the first seven games at quarterback, with former Hueytown High School star Jameis Winston starting the next seven. Thompson-Robinson started two games before Bailey Zappe started the finale.
RELATED: JAMEIS WINSTON: ‘I SHOWED ENOUGH THAT I AM CAPABLE OF BEING A STARTER IN HIS LEAGUE’
Cleveland holds the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and with 12 selections currently, the Browns will have the resources to deal during the draft.
“At the end of the day, a quarterback’s job is to solve problems,” Rees said. “You’re going to be tasked 60, 70, 80 times a game to make a decision in a critical moment. And so I’ve always started with the ability to make quick decisions and make the right decisions, so if you said one thing over the other, I want a decision-maker at that position.”
Working with Rees, Milroe passed for 2,834 yards and 23 touchdowns, had a 172.2 passing-efficiency rating and ran for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. In 2024, Milroe passed for 2,844 yards with 16 touchdowns, had a 148.8 passing-efficiency rating and ran for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Milroe fits the mobile-quarterback model that has risen to the forefront in the NFL. The four signal-callers remaining in the league’s playoffs all have the ability to make plays with their arm and their legs.
“Almost all quarterbacks now are able to create and extend would probably be the right word,” Rees said. “That certainly has changed over time. It doesn’t mean the guys that can’t are extinct. I just think you start to see that with how talented and athletic defensive players are, the ability to extend and create has definitely taken an uptick over the last however many years. I don’t think it’s the only criteria, but you certainly see it as a trend.”
Rees said the Browns’ offense will be based in 2025 on the quarterback’s abilities.
“I think you want to build an offense that has flexibility to be able to cater to any quarterback’s strengths,” Rees said. “And that’s what we’re after here, and that’s what we’re trying to build. And we have to be malleable in our ability to shape the offense to really highlight the strengths of that player. And I know we’re going to put a system together that’s able to do that.”
After working at Alabama in 2023, Rees joined the Browns in 2024 as the tight-ends coach and pass-game coordinator.
“He’s ready for this,” Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said of Rees’ promotion. “Been already a bunch of meetings with Tommy with the offensive coaches. It feels like Tommy’s got a really strong handle on this job, and I’m excited for him.”
Rees has two seasons of NFL experience – as an offensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers in 2016 and with the Browns in 2024. Before joining Alabama in 2023, Rees spent six seasons on the Notre Dame staff, including three as offensive coordinator.
“The job’s the job, right?” Rees said. “I mean, again, you’re still managing people first and foremost — players and coaches. You’re still in a leadership position. You still need to have total ownership. So all of those traits that you develop over that time are critical. You still have to build relationships with all aspects of your offense because you’re not just in one room, and so all of those traits that you learn at Notre Dame, you learn at Alabama, those still hold true at this level.
“I’ve been around great players, great coaches at both those stops, so I feel extremely prepared for this opportunity. A lot of that credit goes to Notre Dame, Alabama — the people that were there, the players that were there.”
Rees cited former Alabama coach Nick Saban as one of the influences on his coaching outlook.
“In 2016, I got the job in San Diego with the Chargers,” Rees said. “I walked into that job thinking I had a pretty good grasp on football. I remember being completely blown away by the knowledge that the coaches had, and I would say that year, from just a schematic football standpoint, really changed the way I looked at the game. And we had Mike McCoy was our head coach, Ken Whisenhunt was our coordinator, Nick Sirianni was our wideout coach, Shane Steichen was our quarterback coach. There was a great staff of people around me that I really leaned into and learned from,
“And then you add the stops along the way. I mean, certainly, being under coach Saban and learning how he ran his program and how you do things day-to-day, how he looked at the game as a defensive coach. Like, the perspective I was able to gain from him was something I will value my entire life. And then, look, I spent nine years with Brian Kelly as a player and as a coach, so obviously, there’s things along the way that I picked up with him offensively, so I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of great coaches, but I would point to the year in San Diego as one that really transformed the way I looked at football.”
While Rees will be the Browns’ offensive coordinator, he will not be Cleveland’s play-caller.
“As far as play-calling, which I know you guys are going to ask, I’m going to call plays,” Stefanski said at Thursday’s press conference, “and I reserve the right to change my mind.”
Stefanski had handled that duty since becoming the Browns’ head coach in 2020. But as Cleveland struggled during the 2024 season, he turned it over to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
“Obviously, we’re going to work together,” Rees said of the arrangement. “I’m looking forward to being a part of the process and having an opportunity to lead the offensive staff and lead the offense. And look, there’s so much work that gets done on the front end of things. Play-calling is just part of the process. And we’re excited to get to work together and making sure that we have a good product on the field.”
The Browns scored the fewest points in the NFL during the 2024 season on their way to a 3-14 record.
“We want to have a system that is sound,” Rees said. “We want to have a system that is explosive. But at the end of the day, we want a system that caters and really highlights our players’ strengths. And so it’s always going to be player-centric. It’s always going to be in the front of the mind to make sure we’re doing things that are sound football-wise. And then: How do we create opportunities for our players and our offense to be explosive?”
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.
