Bears hire Trestman as head coach
Marc Trestman, once associated with the phrase, "He's gone," is ready to hear the words, "He's here."
Trestman is the Chicago Bears' new head coach. He spent the past five seasons as the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes, leading the team to two Grey Cup championships.
The Bears made their decision Tuesday night after narrowing the field of candidates to Trestman, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
"It's a great hire," Cutler told the team's website. "I couldn't be more excited. I've talked to guys around the league and did my own research on him. He's an offensive mind, a great person and a guy that's going to come in and hopefully lead us to many victories in the future."
Trestman, 57, famously was fired by as San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator after the 1996 season. At a press conference in which the 49ers announced head coach George Seifert's resignation and the hiring of Steve Mariucci as Seifert's replacement, a reporter asked about the fate of Trestman. Team owner Eddie DeBartolo grabbed the microphone and declared, "He's gone."
In addition to his two years in San Francisco, Trestman also had stints as the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns (1988-89), the Arizona Cardinals (1998-2000), the Oakland Raiders (2001-03) and North Carolina State (2005-06).
Trestman began assembling his coaching staff Wednesday. He hired New Orleans Saints interim head coach Aaron Kromer as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, according to ESPN. And the Bears replaced departed assistant Dave Toub with Dallas Cowboys special-teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who also will be named assistant head coach.
Noted as a quarterback guru, Trestman tutored the likes of Steve Young, Bernie Kosar and Rich Gannon,
The Chicago Tribune reported that Young, who played under Trestman in San Francisco, made a pitch for Trestman to land the Chicago job.
"I thought he was (a) phenomenal coach," Young said of his time with Trestman. "What he is is a phenomenal offensive mind. He's a great game-day playcaller. I had Mike Holmgren, I had Mike Shanahan and Marc Trestman, and I would put Marc right in there."
Trestman's Montreal teams went 59-31 in the regular season, 5-3 in the postseason.
