I realize this news is a week late, but with the Te'o hoax and Championship Sunday, I was not able to sit back and think about the Chicago Bears decision to hire Marc Trestman as their new Head Coach. I just wanted to share my thoughts real quick. Replacing Lovie Smith after nine seasons will not be easy. While Lovie had a ton of success in Chicago, I was not his biggest fan because of his failure to develop an offense. The Bears were only ranked in the top half of total offense once during the Lovie Era. Personally, I wanted Bruce Arians over Trestman based on what he did with the Colts this season, and his recent NFL success. But, one thing we know about Trestman, he knows offense. It remains to be seen how his CFL success will translate, but Trestman also has an impressive College and NFL coaching resume of over 20 years.
Here are a few of his career highlights courtesy of Wikipedia. In 1983, Trestman was named quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami where quarterback Bernie Kosar passed for 2,329 yards and Miami won the national championship. The following season, Kosar threw for 3,642 yards, a school record. In 1988, while quarterbacks coach in Cleveland, he again coached Kosar and the team finished 10–6 and made the playoffs. Trestman was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 1989 and Kosar passed for 3,533 yards and 18 TDs that season. In 1995 as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with San Francisco, the 49ers led the NFL with 457 points scored, 644 pass attempts and 4,779 passing yards. In 1997, Trestman served as quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions where, Scott Mitchell passed for 3,484 yards, fourth most in team history. In 1998, Trestman was the Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. That year quarterback Jake Plummer threw for 3,737 yards, and the Cardinals made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 while winning their first post-season game in 51 years. In 2001, Trestman served as the Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach. The following year he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Raiders led the NFL in total offense with 389.8 yards per game and passing yards with 279.7 per game. Under Trestman's guidance, Raiders QB Rich Gannon also won the 2002 NFL MVP.
If Marc Trestman can make Bernie Kosar, Scott Mitchell, Jake Plummer, and Rich Gannon have career years, then why not Jay Cutler? I don't know how successful Trestman will be, nobody does. All I know is that based on his track record, I am excited to see what he can do. The offensive line still needs to be revamped, and we need a legitimate option a Tight End (Hello, Tyler Eifert?), but there is hope. Lastly, I am willing to give Trestman, and GM Phil Emery the benefit of doubt until they give me a reason not to.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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