Browns’ Stefanski takes back play-calling while turning offense over to new coordinator Rees
Tommy Rees, Cleveland Browns tight ends coach, answers a question at a news conference during an NFL football practice in Berea, Ohio, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Tommy Rees knows exactly what he’s getting into.
Cleveland’s numerous offensive issues are no surprise to Rees, who just coached the club’s tight ends during a dreadful 3-14 season before being promoted to coordinator for a team still searching for a franchise quarterback.
The 32-year-old Rees was introduced Wednesday by Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who before the question could be asked said he intends to reassume play-calling duties in 2025 after relinquishing them midway through last season.
“I’m going to call plays, and I reserve the right to change my mind,” Stefanski said before bringing Rees to the dais.
As the Browns were stumbling toward another double-digit loss season, Stefanski, who exclusively called plays during his first four-plus years with Cleveland, handed the duties over to coordinator Ken Dorsey in Week 8 — days after quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The Browns wound up finishing last in the NFL in points per game (15.2) and several other categories, and Dorsey was fired hours after the finale in Baltimore.
Rees was all in favor of Stefanski’s decision to resume his role as primary play caller.
“It’s great,” Rees said. “Obviously we’re going to work together. 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’ product in 2024 was inferior, and that’s being polite.
Cleveland’s offense lacked an identity — and so much more — as the scheme Dorsey designed to capitalize on Watson’s skillset was a major misfire.
The Browns failed to score 20 points and Watson didn’t throw for 200 yards in any of his seven starts before getting hurt on Oct. 20. It was the second straight year Watson suffered a season-ending injury after hurting his right shoulder in 2023.
Now, Watson’s future is more unknown following him re-tearing his Achilles and needing another operation. The Browns, who still owe him $92 million over the next two years on the fully guaranteed $230 million deal they gave him in 2022, have only said he will miss a significant part of next season.
It all starts with the quarterback and Cleveland is starting over.
The Browns own the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, and the team is already neck deep into examining this year’s college class with Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward considered the crop’s cream.
Of course, Cleveland has other avenues, including free agency and potentially drafting a quarterback in the later rounds to develop. Ohio State’s Will Howard has become a hot commodity after his national title run.
Rees has a unique perspective on quarterbacks. He was a three-year starter at Notre Dame and coached the Fighting Irish QBs for several seasons before becoming offensive coordinator in 2020. Rees later took the OC job on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, where he coached Jalen Milroe, another intriguing option for the Browns.
While praising Milroe as a person, Rees didn’t want to say much about him or any potential QB target.
“I’m not going to talk about any of the players that are in the draft,” he said. “Look forward to the evaluation process with that.”
As he breaks down game film and assesses arm strength, size and other intangibles, Rees said one QB trait means more than others.
“At the end of the day, the quarterback’s job is to solve problems,” he 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.”
As for his decision to stay with the Browns, Rees, who had other options, leaned into his past.
He was a ball boy as a teenager with the team when his father, Bill, was Cleveland’s director of player personnel from 2004 to 2008.
“Those were probably the years I really started falling in love with football,” Rees said. “And so when I think about my early development in the game, my early love for the game, so many of those memories were surrounded by either being here or watching the Browns on Sunday from home. And so it has come full circle.”
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