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Brian Kelly will be facing off against a familiar face on Saturday.
Tommy Rees, Alabama’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, played for Kelly at Notre Dame from 2010 to 2013 and later worked under him as the Fighting Irish’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Ahead of the matchup, Kelly spoke to his relationship with Rees.
“Obviously there’s a connection there, he played for me and we’ve got a deep connection relative to a player-coach relationship and then a respect for him as a coach and what he’s done in this profession at an early age,” Kelly said in his press conference Monday. “He’s somebody that I have a lot of respect for in what he’s done, certainly at Notre Dame and then in a very short time taking an offense and transforming it quickly during the season. He’s a competitor, he always was as a player and you could see that as a coordinator.”
Given his connection with Rees, Kelly knows what to expect from him. Kelly knows Alabama is going to play a physical game on Saturday.
“His teams are going to be physical, they’re going to run the football, they’re going to push the ball down the field and they’re going to, more than anything else, they’re going to utilize their personnel as he’ll mold the offense to fit the personnel,” Kelly said. “I think that’s what smart coaches do and he’s an outstanding football coach.”
Last season, LSU got the best of Alabama in a narrow overtime win. The Tigers are hoping to do that again this week and look to make a late-season push for the SEC West title.
