When Tommy Rees was about 14 years old, he was on the practice fields at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus shagging kicks for special teams players and helping warm up the quarterbacks in training camp.
He folded towels and brushed footballs in the equipment room and delivered laundry to players lockers. And he earned his first paycheck from the Browns – a memento his mother has kept ever since.
Fast forward almost 20 years, Rees sat behind the podium for his introductory press conference as the new offensive coordinator for the Browns.
"Those were probably the years I really started falling in love with football. 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. It has come full circle," Rees said. "Speaking with my brother, speaking with my dad, it is a pretty cool story to be able to say, 'Okay, well, when you really fell in love with the game, it was in this building, it was watching these games.' Now to be in the position I'm in is something I'm grateful for."
Rees first joined the Browns during the 2024 offseason as the tight ends coach/pass game specialist. In his first season in Cleveland, five tight ends spent time on the Browns' active roster and combined for 111 receptions, 953 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024.
Cleveland also had players break individual records in the pass game. WR Jerry Jeudy set a franchise record for receptions in a season with 90 receptions and finished fifth in team history with 1,229 receiving yards. Jeudy also earned his first career Pro Bowl selection and was named a starter. QB Jameis Winston set the franchise single-game record when he threw for 497 passing yards on Dec. 2 against the Broncos.
Now in his new role, Rees will help develop the Browns' offensive system and lead the offense. While head coach Kevin Stefanski will call plays during the 2025 season, Rees said he will be a part of the process of game planning and the work done throughout the week heading into a game.
The Browns are focused on improving their offense from a disappointing 2024 season, and Rees will play an important role in revamping the offensive system. He said Stefanski and him both believe in being sound and explosive and want to build their offense around those core tenets. They want their offense to have a level of multiplicity to the scheme.
While they work through the quarterback situation for the 2025 season, Rees said their goal is to build an offense that has the flexibility to cater to a quarterback's strengths, as well as highlight the rest of the offensive players on the field.
"It's always going to be player centric. It's always going to be in the front of the mind to make sure we're doing things that are sound football wise and then how do we create opportunities for our players and our offense to be explosive," Rees said. "I think we want to put together a system that our players can have confidence in. Whether that's run or pass or anywhere in between, we want to make sure that everything we're doing has a 'why' to it, and our players understand that 'why.'"
Stefanski said he first met Rees a few years ago through a mutual coach and kept in contact over time. He followed his career as a young coach in college before bringing him to Cleveland in 2024.
"Really this last year spent with Tommy really solidified what I thought about him. We had a process with some really impressive candidates for this job, some smart people that we really enjoyed getting to know but ultimately felt that Tommy was the right fit for this football team," Stefanski said. "He's ready for this. We've been in already a bunch of meetings with Tommy, with the offensive coaches. It feels like Tommy's got a really strong handle on this job, and I'm excited for him."
When Rees first took the coaching job in 2024, he wanted to be a part of Stefanski's staff. Rees said Stefanski's overall view of the game and his demeanor drew him to wanting to work with Stefanski.
"Those are all things that as a coach you want to be around people that you feel like you can learn and grow from and then hopefully take part of their style and continue to help build your own coaching philosophy and style and you want to be around good people," Rees said. "In the coaching world, it's no secret you spend a lot of hours in this office. And so, to be able to be around a guy like Kevin, who is a great man, great coach, good person, like all those things make it a very attractive job."
Over the course of the 2024 season and being back in the NFL, Rees said he learned how to reach players and more of the nuances of the day-to-day in the NFL. Rees spent a season with the San Diego Chargers in 2016 as an offensive assistant when quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 4,386 yards and 33 touchdowns. Yet, returning to the NFL in a different role provided him with new opportunities and a chance to grow comfortable in the flow of the NFL.
He coached a different position group with the tight ends, which broadened his perspective. Through working with players like TE David Njoku and TE Jordan Akins, Rees developed a greater appreciation of how to widen that lens and see the differences of an offense outside of the quarterback perspective.
It also reminded him of a constant conversation he had with his brother growing up.
His brother, Danny, played tight end. Rees played quarterback. They would go back and forth about which position was tougher. During the Browns 2024 training camp, Rees sent Danny a message.
"I remember texting my brother in the middle of training camp, being like, 'Hey, I know this has been 20 years since we've argued about this, but I think you are onto something with the whole tight end conversation,'" Rees recalled. "Run, pass, protection, technique, there's so much that goes into it. When you remove yourself from the quarterback room and have to look at things through a different lens, I think it's so beneficial for somebody that spent as much time around the quarterback position as I have or as much time as a coordinator. It really gives you a great perspective on the other parts of the offense."
Those experiences have helped prepare him as he transitions to being an offensive coordinator in the NFL – a role he's held before at the collegiate level. He knows the coordinator job takes leadership, with an emphasis on managing players and staff and finding solutions. He learned those traits through his stints as an offensive coordinator at Notre Dame and Alabama, allowing him to feel prepared for the next step in his NFL career.
So, when the opportunity to stay in Cleveland and take on the role of offensive coordinator was presented to Rees, it was one he jumped at the chance.
"Cleveland is where I wanted to be," Rees said.
