Slap the Sign
Fansided

10 ways Notre Dame Football can make it back to the College Football Playoff

By Daniel Morrison

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish snaps the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish snaps the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 11
Next
Notre Dame Football. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
Notre Dame Football. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images) /

10 ways Notre Dame Football can make it back to the College Football Playoff

8. Evaluate Tommy Rees as a Strategist and Play Caller

Tommy Rees is going into his second season as the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, and the first year was a mixed bag. An undefeated regular season, including beating Clemson, was great, but were they enough to forget the Louisville game where they only scored 12 points?

There needs to be an evaluation of Rees as the offensive coordinator. Is he coming into games with a good scheme? Is his play-calling agility where it needs to be?

The issues in 2020 can be looked at from a few different lenses. Dealing with COVID-19 disruptions and injuries put the offense, particularly the receivers in turmoil. Rees wasn’t getting tons out of the offense, but there weren’t tons to get out of them, and Book appeared to regress because the team around him regressed, not because of anything to do with Rees’ play calling.

On the other hand, maybe Rees was too conservative at times and didn’t put the team in a position to reach its full potential. The offense was, at times, very bland and disappointing after all.

So, if the Irish want to get back to the Playoff, they’ll need to evaluate which is it. Is Rees getting the most out of a group that is talented enough, or does he need to adapt and put his talent in a place to succeed?

Home/Notre Dame Football