On Monday night, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky, who just did the color commentary for Notre Dame’s Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State, had some high praise for Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Orlovsky, an ESPN analyst, referred to Rees as one of the five best coaches in terms of preparing quarterbacks for the NFL.
If we’re talking about getting a QB ready to play on the NFL
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) January 3, 2022
100% ND with Rees is top 5
The comment came up after Orlovsky mentioned Notre Dame as a program Caleb Williams should consider as a transfer destination if he has NFL aspirations. He also mentioned Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, and USC. Now before anyone gets excited about the Notre Dame – Williams connection, this was just purely Orlovsky’s opinion on which programs would best prepare the Oklahoma quarterback who entered the transfer portal on Monday for the NFL.
Orlovsky spoke very highly of Tommy Rees during Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl, both in terms of his playcalling and development skills. He also got a first-hand look at Rees’s work with Jack Coan, who set the Fiesta Bowl record for yards passing with 509.
Rees getting referred to with such praise by an NFL analyst who is on ESPN every day and has over 350,000 followers on Twitter can only help Notre Dame’s efforts of attracting a top-tier quarterback to South Bend, whether it’s a transfer like Williams or a 5-star recruit like Dante Moore.
For Notre Dame to start winning NY6 games and challenging for a national championship, the Irish need to begin regularly landing elite quarterbacks, so every little bit helps.
Orlovsky is one of the rising stars in the analyst ranks at ESPN and has been doing color commentary for bowl games the last few years. One of the first games he ever called was the 2019 Camping World Bowl – the first game Tommy Rees called plays for Notre Dame before being named offensive coordinator shortly after.
The same Dan Orlovsky who ran out the back of his own end zone?
I thought the guy did a very good job providing insghtful color for the game.
But this air-filling moment of arm-waving —- his “Top 5 ” assessment —-just gets filed with the “ND is a solid Top 10 team” mantra :
It doesn’t sound that outlandish, but in fact can’t withstand any amount of objective analysis or scrutiny.