The Chicago Bears announced early Wednesday morning that Marc Trestman has been hired as the head coach. Trestman replaces Lovie Smith, who spent the last nine years in charge.
Trestman becomes the 14th head coach in Chicago Bears history. He was one of three finalists for the job alongside Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
“I absolutely love the hire,” WR Brandon Marshall said via Chicago Sun-Times, “and the few guys I’ve talked to love it too. Hearing from guys who have played for him and been around him, he’s a guy that’s innovative.”
“He [Trestman] knows the west coast offense, I’ve never looked at Jay Cutler being a west coast offensive kind of guy,” former WR Tim Brown said via ESPN Chicago. “Its going to be a very interesting transition for Cutler.”
So who is Marc Trestman you might ask?
He started his coaching career at the University of Miami in 1981. He helped turn QB Bernie Kosar into a star as the Hurricanes won the national championship in 1983. He left for the NFL in 1985 and stayed there until 2004.
Some highlights of those years in the NFL include guiding the Cleveland Browns to the AFC Championship as the offensive coordinator with Bernie Kosar under center. As the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers in 1995 he helped them lead the league in points (457) and passing yards (4,779). He spent 1997 as a quarterbacks coach with the Detroit Lions and helped QB Scott Mitchell pass for 3,484 yards which was second in team history. From 1998 to 2000 he was the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, where he helped guide them to their first playoff win in 51 years with QB Jake Plummer under center. He served as the offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders from 2001-2003. In 2002, the Raiders led the league in total offense as QB Rich Gannon won the MVP award and the team reached the Super Bowl.
He left the NFL for college in 2005 as he became the offensive coordinator of North Carolina State. He won two championships as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes from 2008-2012. He has trained quarterbacks Jay Cutler, Jason Campbell, Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen, Brandon Weeden and Brock Osweiler as they prepared for the NFL Draft.
He is a quarterback guru who has spent 27 years coaching football.
He interviewed for the Indianapolis Colts head coaching job last year.
Trestman joins Marv Levy (Bills, Chiefs) and Bud Grant (Vikings) as former CFL head coaches that made the jump to the NFL. Levy and Grant both helped their teams reach the Super Bowl.
Trestman will retain the services of defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to keep some continuity on the Bears’ defense. It was said he would depart if Lovie Smith gets a head coaching job, but as of now it seems as Marinelli will be back in 2013.
Aaron Kromar will be named the offensive coordinator. Kromar was the Saints’ interim head coach for the first six games of the 2012 season. He spent 2001-2004 with the Oakland Raiders as the offensive line coach with Trestman. He coached the offensive line in Tampa Bay from 2005-2007 then moved to New Orleans, where he’s been since 2008.
Kromar gets the title of offensive coordinator, but he will be in charge of the offensive line as Trestman calls the plays.
Joe DeCamillis comes over as the new special teams coordinator. He replaces Dave Toub, who left for the Chiefs to join Andy Reid in Kansas City.
He’s been a special teams coach in the NFL since 1988. He bounced from the Broncos, Giants, Falcons and Jaguars until landing with the Cowboys in 2009. He interviewed with Phil Emery for the head coaching gig, but he was happy to come over as the special teams coordinator.
Also quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates will likely be back coaching up Jay Cutler and the rest of the Bears quarterbacks.
The Bears announced that the press conference introducing Marc Trestman will take place at 10 am CT on Thursday.
What do you think about the hiring of Marc Trestman as the new Chicago Bears head coach?
Jake Perper is the owner and head writer for Bearsbacker.com. Follow him on Twitter, @Bearsbacker and on Facebook for up to the minute news about the Chicago Bears.
