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BEREA, Ohio — The last time Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called plays, he did so at Alabama in 2023 under Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college coach of all time. Saban was also one of the most demanding of all time, and Rees, 33, had to be on top of his game. But Rees learned something from Saban, architect of seven national championships, that will serve him well as he begins his new role as the Browns play caller Sunday on the road against the 1-7 Jets. “With Nick, you better have a core belief on what your guys can execute at a really high level and continue to ask them to do that,” Rees said Thursday. “He challenged you to be simple and execute those things at a really high level. Put your players in a position to execute the same thing over and over again and they can be pretty good at that.” More Cleveland Browns coverage Kevin Stefanksi makes another play-calling change for the Browns, but this time feels different: Dan Labbe Browns rookie Carson Schwesinger pushing to return from high ankle sprain — can he do so against Jets? Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta leaving to become head of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies The adage built upon what Rees learned as a first-time play caller at Notre Dame, where he had played quarterback himself from 2010-2013. Promoted to offensive coordinator full-time in 2020, Rees learned under another college legend in Brian Kelly. “I was 27 when I got the job at Notre Dame, and you have an idea of what you want your offense to look like and you try to shape it,” Rees said. “And you learn pretty quickly, it’s really not about what you want it to be. It’s about what your players can do and what puts them in a position to have success.” He also learned from Saban “how to have complements and counters. In that league, at that level, you better have that stuff built in or you can get exposed pretty quickly. And then you learn the ability to anticipate and have some foresight into what teams are going to try to do to stop you and have a great plan there.” Rees’ first game calling plays was Notre Dame’s bowl game in 2019, a 33-9 victory over Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl. It went so well, Kelly promoted him to coordinator soon after. “You learn every time you call plays, right?” Rees said. “Had a handful of years there in a row calling them, called them in big games, called them in games people didn’t watch, everywhere in between. Worked for two head coaches that are pretty intense on game day, so obviously you learn how to block out some noise, some friendly fire there. I think you get into a groove, you get into a comfort level.” The key, he said, “is about learning your own team, learning your own quarterback. Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to be here, sit with Dillon, be with the offense.” Having played the position himself and having spent almost seven months with Gabriel since the Browns drafted him in the third round out of Oregon, he knows “what helps him, what makes him click. I think I’ve got a good feel for our personnel here. That’s so important when it comes to calling games. Then you get into a rhythm throughout the game of figuring out what from the plan works, what you need to adjust, what they’re doing to try to take some things away.” He rejected the notion that being only two years removed from the college game gives him a leg up with all the rookie on offense, including Gabriel and fellow quarterback Shedeur Sanders. “Calling games (in general) gives you the perspective of how you utilize your personnel,” he said. “Certainly you see a lot of things from college transferring to the NFL as of late. You watch Denver play, they have a lot of stuff there that makes their quarterback comfortable. So I think finding the right blend of maximizing your personnel and who you have is important. Listening to Stefanski call plays in the headset over the past eight games has also helped him prepare for the chore. “You’re putting yourself in the shoes to call a game again as you’re listening and observing and helping,” he said. “I think those were critical moments for me to move forward. On the NFL part, I think these last couple years, just being in the position I’ve been and seeing it firsthand, I don’t have a whole lot of concern there.” The Browns tight ends coach last season before he replaced the fired Ken Dorsey as coordinator this year, Rees will remain up in the booth to call the plays. It will be different for Gabriel than having his play caller right there on the sidelines. “It’s a great vantage point to be able to call the game,” Rees said. “It’s a great environment to be able to call the game and it’s where my comfort’s been. I’ve called the game from the field. I’ve preferred to call them from the booth as time’s progressed on. But want to keep the same rhythm that we’ve had.” With Rees upstairs, quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, a former NFL quarterback, will remain on the sidelines to communicate with Gabriel, their lefty signal-caller. “Throughout the entire year, we’ve had a good plan on how to communicate from the box down through Bill, through the phone. So there’s plenty of ways to get that across.” Rees is tasked with coaxing more out of Gabriel, who hasn’t played well enough for most of his first four starts, during which the Browns have gone 1-3. Granted, he hasn’t gotten much help from his playmakers, but he’s also missed some open receivers and failed to take some shots when they’re there. 32nd in the NFL with a 78.4 rating, Gabriel has completed only 23 of 56 attempts to his wide receivers for 41.1%, with one interception and no touchdowns. The longest pass he’s completed is 24 yards, and he must have the confidence to let it rip at times, despite multiple drops. Overall, the offense has tumbled to 31st in total yards, including 28th in rushing and 29th in passing. They’re 30th in points per game with 15.8, and have eclipsed 17 just once this season, when they cashed in on three of four takeaways for 21 points. “We’ve got to put the receivers in the right spots,” Rees said. “We got to ask them to do the right things. We got to make sure that we’re giving them the looks during the week. Certainly they did some things there to take some looks away, but getting him to progress and feel confident in those things. And again, all that work is done throughout the week and then when a team’s doing something that’s going to take it away, you got to have counters and answers for that.” It should help that No. 2 receiver Cedric Tillman will be back this week after missing four games with a hamstring injury. At 6-3, 215, Tillman gives the corps some much-needed size it’s been missing. He’s also the only receiver with a TD catch this season, tying for the team lead with two. “It’s just maximizing what they do really well, not allowing a team to kind of bear down on certain things and make sure you have enough multiplicity there to move guys around, put them in the right spots,” Rees said. “You want to get guys into a rhythm. The more success they have, the more confident they play. It’s our job again as coaches to build that in.” He’ll also try to get No. 1 receiver Jerry Jeudy more involved, ideally with some early touches. During the 32-13 loss to the Patriots, Jeudy didn’t get a target until the fourth quarter, going 0-for-2. Through eight games, he’s caught only 22 passes for 96th in the NFL. “You’ve got to be multiple in what you do so that way you can’t just let them hone in and take something away,” Rees said. “We’re better when our best players are playing well. We’re better when our best players are touching the ball. So I think that’s an area of focus for every team, not just us. Our job as coaches is to find ways to not allow them to take that away.” The top two receivers right now in terms of catches and yards are both tight ends in rookie Harold Fannin Jr. and veteran David Njoku. The Browns also added tight end Brenden Bates last week. With the receivers struggling and Rees as the former tight ends coach here, will he feature that position more? “Favoritism? No, no,” he said. A former Browns ball boy and the son of former Browns personnel executive Bill Rees, Rees declined to put a label on what his offense might look like. “We want to go out there and play sound football, put our players in the right spots to have success,” he said. “We’ve got to score points. We’ve got to stay on the (field). The first year I called plays at Notre Dame looks different than when I was at Alabama. It’s just you’re trying to maximize the guys you have on the roster.” Regardless of what it looks like, Stefanski will let Rees put his own stamp on the scheme, while retaining control over big decisions such as whether or not to go for it on fourth down. Question is, just how different will it look? “I’ll ask you next week, I guess,” he said. “I would think every play caller is going to have a different feel, a different spin on things. They’re going to have things that they value and want to get to. Kevin and I are not the same person, although we have enough in our offense to make it look different in spots. But some of the core principles continue on. We just have to do them at a higher level.” He noted that he took this job in the first place because of Stefanski, and “I still think the world of him. Really fortunate for the support he’s given me over the last week, the support he’s had for me over the last couple of years. The timing of it, you have a bye week, you have some time to step away and look at things through a different perspective and want to create a spark for the offense. Again, working really collaboratively with Kev and really appreciate that part of it. It’s his decision and I want to make the most of it.” The Browns are counting on it.
