A Lake Forest alumnus is all that can be talked about in the college football world right now. Tommy Rees, former Lake Forest High School student and quarterback, has just been hired as the next offensive coordinator for the University of Alabama football team. Rees was the quarterback for the Scouts in 2008 and 2009. In his senior season, he was able to throw for 2,572 yards with 23 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He also had a completion percentage of 70%. After his outstanding year he took his talents to Notre Dame where he played quarterback for four years and started in his last (2013). However, instead of pursuing a career in the NFL, he went on to coach at Northwestern. After a short time there, he got hired onto the San Diego Chargers staff. In 2017, he returned to Notre Dame where he started as the quarterbacks coach and would eventually become the offensive coordinator in 2020.

In his first year as OC in 2022, he coached the offense to a 10-2 record and a playoff berth. They lost in the semi-finals that year to the eventual champions, Alabama. On February 3rd of this year, news broke that Rees was being hired as Alabama’s next Offensive Coordinator. To see a Lake Forest Alum be that high up in the sports world is very surreal. It shows how anybody can take their talents to the big stages just like Rees. 

There is no official report of how much Rees will be getting paid but he should be in the neighborhood of being one of the highest paid coordinators in college football. At 30 years old, Rees is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, and who knows, maybe his new contract will turn into a succession play for when Nick Saban leaves his legacy behind. Until then, he will be commanding the offense of the greatest college football program in history and will be going head to head with the top teams in the nation.