Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday that senior Tommy Rees will enter the season as the team's starting quarterback, ESPN reported Thursday. Kelly's announcement at an event in Grand Rapids, Mich., quickly answered any questions about who would be the signal caller for the Irish after the dismissal of last season's starter Everett Golson.
Golson's departure was academic-related, a source confirmed to ESPN's Joe Schad.
"We have Tommy Rees, who is an established player, and he will be our starter," Kelly said. "We think Andrew Hendrix and Malik Zaire can contribute, but Tommy will be our starter."
Golson started 11 games for the Fighting Irish last season as a redshirt freshman, leading the team to the Discover BCS National Championship, where it lost to Alabama to finish a 12-1 season.
Rees brings a wealth of experience, starting 18 games with more than 4,000 passing yards in his career.
As a freshman in 2010, Rees saw limited action in games against Michigan and Navy, before being forced into action early against Tulsa when starting quarterback Dayne Crist ruptured his patellar tendon. He finished the game with 334 yards and four TD passes, but threw a costly interception in the waning minutes of the game which sealed the victory for the Golden Hurricanes.
Rees led the Irish to victories in his first four starts at quarterback, including upsets of Utah and USC, culminating in a 33-17 victory over Miami in the Sun Bowl. In 2011, Rees passed for 2,871 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Notre Dame went 8-4 in the regular season with a bowl loss.
Hendrix, a fourth-year junior, and Zaire, a spring enrollee, also are on the depth chart.
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