Airport Season: How Tommy Rees At Alabama Came To Fruition
On Friday, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees accepted the Alabama Crimson Tide's offer for its opening at the same position.
While news of the hire broke around 3:00 p.m. CST, the move had been in the works for several days, with Tide 100.9 monitoring the ongoing process.
Here is what we know as of this afternoon.
Thanks to extensive flight-tracking efforts by Tide 100.9 writer Jackson Fryburger, we were able to pinpoint a Thursday Crimson Tide Foundation flight to South Bend, Ind., following a report from ESPN's Chris Low on Rees being a candidate for the position.
The plane traveling to South Bend quickly turned around for Tuscaloosa National Airport upon its arrival in the Hoosier State where boots on the ground captured footage of Rees and his fiancé arriving Thursday.
Rees visited the University of Alabama campus to meet in-person on the offensive coordinator opening after meeting with coach Nick Saban over Zoom on Wednesday, per FootballScoop.
The Crimson Tide Foundation jet Rees arrived on spent approximately 22 hours in the Druid City at Tuscaloosa National Airport before departing for South Bend again at noon CST on Friday.
According to public flight-tracking data, the plane spent roughly 15 minutes on the ground in South Bend where it is believed to have dropped Rees back off.
Shortly after the plane took off for its return trip to Tuscaloosa, news broke Rees informed Notre Dame players and staff he would be leaving for Alabama.
*The following is pure speculation and not confirmed by an official report*
Based on the timing of the events over the last 48 hours, it is believed that Rees and his fiancé traveled back to South Bend to finalize the move to Tuscaloosa and inform Notre Dame of his departure.
The Crimson Tide Foundation jet that arrived back at Tuscaloosa National Airport at 3:00 p.m. CST on Friday did not have Rees on board, while the pilot of the plane was seen leaving in a personal vehicle for the afternoon upon exiting a blue hangar.
Rees' hiring brings a close to Alabama's week-long search for an offensive coordinator as Bill O'Brien returned to Foxborough, Mass last Friday.
The Crimson Tide will now look to fill its opening at the defensive coordinator position following the departure of Pete Golding to Ole Miss a few weeks prior.
Potential candidate and Alabama defensive analyst Todd Grantham was rumored to be in line to receive the job before news broke Friday he would be taking an assistant job with the New Orleans Saints.
Make sure to stay tuned to Tide 100.9 as we bring you all things Alabama coaching search related this offseason.
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