Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban made a bold move when he hired Tommy Rees away from Notre Dame. Saban, losing his offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to the NFL, went a different route this time, aiming for the young, hot shot to replace the current New England Patriots OC.
While the move received a lot of praise at the time, as Alabama opened up the checkbook to pry Rees away from his alma mater and a power program at that, the results have left a whole lot to be desired.
After a 56-7 drubbing of Middle Tennessee State in Week 1, the Crimson Tide failed to follow up with a similar performance in Week 2. Granted, that wasn’t the expected result against Texas, but neither was Jalen Milroe’s performance. Milroe, who was named Alabama’s starting quarterback exiting fall camp, went just 14-of-27 for 255 yards with two touchdowns against two interceptions.
Because of the offense’s shortcomings in a 34-24 loss to Texas, Saban made a change at the quarterback position. The Crimson Tide started Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner, who followed Rees from South Bend, against USF. And let’s just say, Saban may have been a little quick to bench Milroe.
Buchner went 5-of-14 for 34 yards before he was benched in favor of Ty Simpson. Alabama mustered just 310 yards of total offense to go along with 17 points. This came against a team that came into Saturday’s game ranked 110 in the FBS in total defense. The Bulls had allowed 429 yards/per game through their first two contests.
Needless to say, those in the CFB world were not thrilled with Alabama’s offensive performance, though it did come in a road win. They were quick to react to Rees, who was absolutely blasted for the team’s shortcomings.
Post game thoughts:
1. Gotta start Milroe or Simpson next week. Buchner is not an option.
2. Unless the OL play improves, this offense will continue to look BAD no matter who is at QB.
3. Tommy Rees was a terrible hire.
— Alabama Football Stats (@AlabamaFBStats) September 16, 2023
Tommy Rees is to blame for this offense Sure the quarterbacks aren’t great throwing the ball but this offense leaves a lot to be desired
— Booger (@ESPNBooger) September 16, 2023
Hey Notre Dame, we are done with our free trial of Tommy Rees and Tyler Buchner & will not be renewing our subscription. Please for the love of god come get them
— Courtney McKinney (@CourtAnne1225) September 16, 2023
The one constant in all this QB incompetence has been Tommy Rees.
— Paul T. Graham (@PaulTGraham) September 16, 2023
HEY BAMA FANS‼️
How’s the Tommy Rees Experience going??? pic.twitter.com/fdMRcBDc07
— Zach Smith (@CoachZachSmith) September 16, 2023
[NCAA]
