Tommy Rees regrets the F-bombs, but nothing else.
Referring to the viral clip that NBC cameras caught him telling Fighting Irish linebacker Drew Pine to “do your f***ing job” during last weekend’s win over Cal, the Notre Dame offensive coordinator explained that aside from the bombs F, this is the best way for him to go to Pine.
“Some guys need certain types of workouts at certain times,” Reese said. via IrishIllustrated. “I’m not proud of the language I used, but I know with Drew he’s looking for and can handle the tough workouts and those things that light the fire and create a sense of urgency. At that point, we felt it was the right thing for the right player. He responded as we hoped and we are proud of him for it. I’m not proud of my language, but I’m proud of the fact that Drew and I have a relationship where there’s a lot of trust, and he knows that if he needs to repeat the urgency, it can be, and there’s trust between us.”
Starting for the first time, sophomore quarterback Drew Pine completed 17 of 23 passes for a modest 150 yards with two touchdowns in the Irish’s 24-17 loss to Cal.
On Wednesday, Reese said the words in the clip were motivational for Pine, not demeaning.
“It was a bit of a tipping point for us,” Reese said. “He was frustrated. I was just trying to get him to keep his eye on it. If I light a fire under him, it doesn’t give him time to sort himself out and think about the previous plays and just go ahead and continue to do his job for our team and understand , that he’s one of the 11 forwards. When we have 10 guys doing their thing and we don’t, we’ve got to make sure we keep moving forward.”