Trestman out as Head Coach of the Chicago Bears

[South Pender]

If we haven't already, we can probably cross Marc Trestman off the list of possible candidates for the Lions' HC job. I don't think most of us ever thought of this as a realistic possibility, but the thinking--at least by one writer on Pro Football Talk, backed up evidently by a "Chicago Bears insider"--seems to be that he'll be given another year with the Bears. Given their defensive ineptitude, however, DC Mel Tucker seems a pretty certain casualty. Here's their brief article on this:

Trestman appears safe despite Bears’ lousy season
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 6, 2014, 10:27 AM EST

The Bears are 5-8, in last place in the NFC North and have been on the losing end of some ugly blowouts this season. All of that points to head coach Marc Trestman being on the hot seat.

And yet few in Chicago believe Trestman will be fired. CSN Chicago Bears Insider John Mullin said this week on PFT Live that Trestman appears safe. Mullin said that firing Trestman right now would be tantamount to a “monumental admission of mistake by G.M. Phil Emery,” and that just isn’t something Emery is ready to do.

Of course, Bears chairman George McCaskey could just decide to fire Emery. But as the Chicago Sun-Times puts it, that’s just not how this franchise rolls. The Bears aren’t the kind of team that cleans house after one bad season. Trestman showed promise as a first-year NFL head coach last year, and despite a step backward this year, the Bears are almost certain to give Trestman and Emery a chance to show that this year is an anomaly.

Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is likely to be fired after the season, and other defensive assistants, as well as special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, appear to be on the hot seat as well. But Trestman doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. As bad as this year is, it probably won’t be Trestman’s last year in Chicago.

[notahomer]

Good, IMO. I would have loved to see him get a gig like the Lions one but I still think he deserves some more time too. The Bears defense really tanked, IMO, and a large part of that was in part due to the early boot to the curb of longtime legend Brian Urlacher. Getting rid of long time vets who were leaders and then having both sides of the ball struggle....new concept never happened in football before

[B.C.FAN]

Good, IMO. I would have loved to see him get a gig like the Lions one but I still think he deserves some more time too. The Bears defense really tanked, IMO, and a large part of that was in part due to the early boot to the curb of longtime legend Brian Urlacher. Getting rid of long time vets who were leaders and then having both sides of the ball struggle....new concept never happened in football before

[TheLionKing]

The Bears defense really tanked, IMO, and a large part of that was in part due to the early boot to the curb of longtime legend Brian Urlacher. Getting rid of long time vets who were leaders and then having both sides of the ball struggle....new concept never happened in football before

That scenario seems eerily familiar...

[Toppy Vann]

I didn't follow the Bears at all in games but it seems to me that Trestman is foolish in that big of an organization to try and be his own play caller.

The CFL teams are much smaller and it worked for him here after he got going but in the NFL it is hugely more complex operation so a good HC should not be a fool and do more than his job.

If Trestman didn't have his own play calling stuff perhaps he'd have more time to get his other coaches heading in the right direction.

Like the guy but disappointed that he has hung on to long to play calling and trying to be the offensive QB whisperer rather than let that go to another.

[South Pender]

I didn't follow the Bears at all in games but it seems to me that Trestman is foolish in that big of an organization to try and be his own play caller.

The CFL teams are much smaller and it worked for him here after he got going but in the NFL it is hugely more complex operation so a good HC should not be a fool and do more than his job.

If Trestman didn't have his own play calling stuff perhaps he'd have more time to get his other coaches heading in the right direction.

Like the guy but disappointed that he has hung on to long to play calling and trying to be the offensive QB whisperer rather than let that go to another.

Yeah...that's probably true about Trestman taking on too many tasks, taking time away from providing overall leadership. He's not the only NFL head coach, however, who calls his own offensive plays; Andy Reid in KC does this too, as do Chip Kelly in Philly and Mike McCarthy in Green Bay, and even Bill Belichick, whose real background is defense, calls a lot of the Patriots' offensive plays.

[South Pender]

Well, I guess the earlier report on Marc Trestman may have been premature. Many now think that his days in Chicagoland are coming to an end. What follows is the link to the Pro Football Talk piece on Trestman. In that link, you can click onto a long interview between Mike Florio and John Mullin who covers the Bears. The Mullin interview gets into many of the details about Trestman's trials with the Bears. The text is given below the link for those who just want the highlights.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -trestman/

Report: Bears likely to fire Trestman
Posted by Mike Florio on December 16, 2014, 7:30 PM EST

The Marc Trestman experiment reportedly will be ending, soon.

According to Dan Bernstein of WSCR in Chicago, Bears ownership met in the wake of Monday night’s 31-15 home loss to the Saints. Per Bernstein, the team “likely” will fold the tents on the Trestman regime. It’s not known whether the Bears also will be parting ways with the man who hired Trestman, G.M. Phil Emery.

The Trestman hire was unconventional, to say the least. A long-time NFL assistant who was a candidate for head-coaching jobs but never hired eventually left the pro game after the 2004 season for N.C. State, where he served as offensive coordinator. After two years with the Wolfpack and a season out of football, Trestman became the head coach of the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.

After five years in Canada, Emery decided to give Trestman a try. His laid-back, professorial style hasn’t gotten the most out of his players, especially with the locker room devoid of vocal leaders.

While most General Managers get two chances to hire a head coach, Emery’s blunder becomes underscored by the fact that one of the other finalists for the job was Bruce Arians, who has compiled a record of 21-9 to date in Arizona. Trestman is 13-17, and it feels even worse than that.

Also working against Emery was the decision to make a real, multi-year commitment to quarterback Jay Cutler. At a time when more teams are using year-to-year deals that protect the franchise against a dramatic downturn in ability, Emery gave Cutler $54 million guaranteed over three years. To get out of the contract after one season, the Bears would have to watch $38 million walk out the door.

The alternative may not be any more palatable, since it could become harder to hire a new head coach if the new coach inherits a quarterback he may not want.

For more on the mess at Halas Hall, here’s John Mullin of CSNChicago.com appearing on Tuesday’s PFT Live.
__________________________________________________________________

The thinking seems to be that Trestman was too laid back with the players, not enforcing discipline when it was needed, and not sufficiently dominant. But the GM, Phil Emery, is sitting on a seat that is steadily rising in temperature as well--in part for his insane guaranteed contract with Jay Cutler that has, and will continue to, cost the Bears many millions.

[notahomer]

I still think part of it is leaders in the lockerroom too. Urlacher WOULD have been a great guy to have for another season, IMO. He MAY be the type of 'vocal leader' needed.

Having a 'soft' (not doing enough discipline) MAY hurt him in terms of future NFL gigs.... Guess we'll see. I always think of Dick Vermiel as a classic discipline coach but he only had success when he softened up, so go figure...

[Lions4ever]

I still think part of it is leaders in the lockerroom too. Urlacher WOULD have been a great guy to have for another season, IMO. He MAY be the type of 'vocal leader' needed.

Having a 'soft' (not doing enough discipline) MAY hurt him in terms of future NFL gigs.... Guess we'll see. I always think of Dick Vermiel as a classic discipline coach but he only had success when he softened up, so go figure...

I've heard/read interviews with Jon Gruden and Mike Ditka in the last day or so. Neither of them think this is a coaching problem. They both think Trestman is an excellent coach. They believe it's a player problem and specifically with Ditka, a problem of all the money tied up in the QB. If Trestman goes, Emery should go too seems to be the subtext.

[Toppy Vann]

I still think part of it is leaders in the lockerroom too. Urlacher WOULD have been a great guy to have for another season, IMO. He MAY be the type of 'vocal leader' needed.

Having a 'soft' (not doing enough discipline) MAY hurt him in terms of future NFL gigs.... Guess we'll see. I always think of Dick Vermiel as a classic discipline coach but he only had success when he softened up, so go figure...

I've heard/read interviews with Jon Gruden and Mike Ditka in the last day or so. Neither of them think this is a coaching problem. They both think Trestman is an excellent coach. They believe it's a player problem and specifically with Ditka, a problem of all the money tied up in the QB. If Trestman goes, Emery should go too seems to be the subtext.

Overall it can be said to be on the players not the HC or coaches except the look and feel of the Bears the other night showed to me a complete lack of intensity and focus. That is coaching.

The QB decision was insane.

[TheLionKing]

I still think part of it is leaders in the lockerroom too. Urlacher WOULD have been a great guy to have for another season, IMO. He MAY be the type of 'vocal leader' needed.

Having a 'soft' (not doing enough discipline) MAY hurt him in terms of future NFL gigs.... Guess we'll see. I always think of Dick Vermiel as a classic discipline coach but he only had success when he softened up, so go figure...

I've heard/read interviews with Jon Gruden and Mike Ditka in the last day or so. Neither of them think this is a coaching problem. They both think Trestman is an excellent coach. They believe it's a player problem and specifically with Ditka, a problem of all the money tied up in the QB. If Trestman goes, Emery should go too seems to be the subtext.

I guess it's all on player execution. Have we heard this before ?

[South Pender]

Overall it can be said to be on the players not the HC or coaches except the look and feel of the Bears the other night showed to me a complete lack of intensity and focus. That is coaching.

The QB decision was insane.

Seems to be right re intensity. This from my post in the NFL thread:

Bears TE Martellus Bennett had this to say after the game (from Pro Football Talk):

Martellus Bennett says Bears lack passion
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 16, 2014, 7:25 AM EST

Bears tight end Martellus Bennett believes the problem on his team is not about talent. It’s about effort.

‘‘There are some positions on the team that need to step up with leadership and things like that around the club,” Bennett told the Chicago Sun-Times. “But overall, I just feel like we need passion to come from certain places. I don’t think the passion is always there all the time. But overall, it just hasn’t been there.’’

Asked to name which people in the locker room lack passion, Bennett wouldn’t say. But he would say it’s a problem that goes beyond just one or two guys.

‘‘Several people,’’ Bennett said. ‘‘I don’t really get into the name thing. They know who they are.’’

Whoever they are, the Bears will need to get rid of them this offseason. After the way the Bears have played down the stretch this year, it’s become clear that a house-cleaning is in order.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And this from Trestman on Jay Cutler:

Marc Trestman: It’s evident I haven’t gotten best from Jay Cutler
Posted by Josh Alper on December 17, 2014, 4:57 PM EST

For the second straight week, Bears coach Marc Trestman is getting questions about benching quarterback Jay Cutler in favor of Jimmy Clausen.

Trestman resisted any temptation to make a change last week and he’s doing the same this week, although he stuck with Cutler while admitting something that’s been apparent to everyone who has watched the Bears on offense this season. Trestman said that he thinks “it’s been evident” that he’s failed to get the best out of Cutler during the 2014 season.

“I haven’t been able [to get the best from Cutler] and we haven’t been able to do the things that we want to get done,” Trestman said, via ESPNChicago.com. “We’re working towards that. But the answer to that is obvious. I’m trying to give you the most truthful answer and that is, we’ve seen moments of it, but it’s not where we need to go. It’s not where we need to be. But it’s not all about Jay. It’s about our entire offense, working together to get it done.”

The question lingering over the Bears right now is whether Trestman will get more time to work with Cutler and the entire offense or if they’ll fire him after a second season as coach that has gone wrong in a wide variety of ways. The failure to get more out of the offense is as damning as anything for Trestman because his offensive acumen is what got him the job in the first place, although it remains hard to believe that Trestman or anyone else is going to find a way to turn Cutler into a radically different quarterback than the one he’s been over the first nine years of his career.

[Lions4ever]

I still think part of it is leaders in the lockerroom too. Urlacher WOULD have been a great guy to have for another season, IMO. He MAY be the type of 'vocal leader' needed.

Having a 'soft' (not doing enough discipline) MAY hurt him in terms of future NFL gigs.... Guess we'll see. I always think of Dick Vermiel as a classic discipline coach but he only had success when he softened up, so go figure...

I've heard/read interviews with Jon Gruden and Mike Ditka in the last day or so. Neither of them think this is a coaching problem. They both think Trestman is an excellent coach. They believe it's a player problem and specifically with Ditka, a problem of all the money tied up in the QB. If Trestman goes, Emery should go too seems to be the subtext.

Overall it can be said to be on the players not the HC or coaches except the look and feel of the Bears the other night showed to me a complete lack of intensity and focus. That is coaching.

The QB decision was insane.

Greg Cosell was on with Cowherd this morning discussing the Bears/Cutler/Trestman. I'm not trying to defend Trestman, it doesn't matter to me. But I respect Cosell as one of the smartest, most incisive no nonsense commenters/analysts in pro football. From his wikipedia page: "Cosell is widely regarded by NFL insiders as one of the most knowledgeable and trusted football analysts". He doesn't put any of this on the coaching. He says Trestman runs a sophisticated offense. It's a Cutler problem...and a Phil Emery problem. But, coaches get whacked all the time and that's the nature of the business.

[South Pender]

Greg Cosell was on with Cowherd this morning discussing the Bears/Cutler/Trestman. I'm not trying to defend Trestman, it doesn't matter to me. But I respect Cosell as one of the smartest, most incisive no nonsense commenters/analysts in pro football. From his wikipedia page: "Cosell is widely regarded by NFL insiders as one of the most knowledgeable and trusted football analysts". He doesn't put any of this on the coaching. He says Trestman runs a sophisticated offense. It's a Cutler problem...and a Phil Emery problem. But, coaches get whacked all the time and that's the nature of the business.

I think some of this is definitely on Cutler, and on Emery for not doing more for the Bears' defense this season. However, the lack of focus and intensity--as noted by TE Martellus Bennett--has to be seen as the HC's failure to a large extent, I think. Cutler himself has praised Trestman as a "a heck of a quarterback coach," and it may be that he (Trestman) is very good at teaching the fundamentals, yet be unable to get his troops fired up and playing their best when it counts. No one evaluating the Bears' offense in the preseason saw anything other than one that could really dominate games and score a lot of points. The personnel were definitely there--with the skill positions filled with talented players: Cutler, Forte, Marshall, Bennett, Jeffery, and an adequate O-line. For this group to fail as they have has to be placed, to a fair extent, at the feet of the HC for not getting the most out of a really solid lineup, with some (maybe quite a bit) of the blame going to OC Aaron Kromer . The fact that Cutler can and does behave like an ass doesn't explain all of the malaise. His benching by Trestman has stirred up some discontent and confusion among the players, although Cutler himself seems to be handling it reasonably well. Perhaps these things don't sting quite as much when you are guaranteed $54M.

[dupsdell1]

Trestman Fired today

http://www.tsn.ca/bears-start-overhaul- ... n-1.170170


LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Chicago Bears fired general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman on Monday, making sweeping changes after missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years.

Trestman is out after going 13-19 in two seasons while Emery lasted just three years. The Bears went 5-11 in a mostly miserable season, never challenging for the NFC North lead after the first few weeks as quarterback Jay Cutler and the rest of the offence struggled mightily.

"I want to thank Virginia, George and the McCaskey family, Phil Emery and Ted Phillips for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears," Trestman said in a statement released by the team. "I also want to thank all the coaches and players who gave us everything we asked over the past two years. I have tremendous respect for this organization."

Trestman found couldn't duplicate the success he enjoyed in the CFL with the Bears. Trestman was head coach of the Montreal Alouettes for five seasons before joining Chicago. He led the Alouettes to back-to-back Grey Cup titles in 2009 and 2010.

This was certainly not what the Bears envisioned with a prolific offence returning intact and a rebuilt defence in tow. But little went right for Chicago this season.

There were distractions throughout the year, whether it was linebacker Lance Briggs being allowed to miss practice to open a restaurant in California the week of the opener or offensive co-ordinator Aaron Kromer admitting he was the NFL Network's source behind a critical report of Cutler late in the season.

Trestman, who was hired to get the most out of Cutler, decided the team needed a spark even with the Bears out of contention, so he benched the highly paid quarterback in favour of Jimmy Clausen for the second-to-last game of the season against Detroit. Cutler wound up starting the final game after Clausen suffered a concussion against the Lions, adding another chapter to a season-long soap opera.

Trestman also surprised some by allowing star receiver Brandon Marshall to fly to New York on a weekly basis to record Showtime's "Inside the NFL." Marshall, who is open about his struggles with borderline personality disorder, had an off year and at one point gave a rambling news conference over past allegations of domestic abuse. He also challenged a Detroit fan on Twitter to a boxing match for charity, and reporters standing in the hallway overheard him screaming in the locker room after a loss to Miami at Soldier Field in October that raised all sorts of questions about where the team was headed.

The answers came right after that.

The Bears joined the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons as the only teams to give up 50 or more points in back-to-back games while dropping the next two at New England and Green Bay. Trestman's meek response after defensive end Lamarr Houston suffered a season-ending knee injury celebrating a late sack against the Patriots — "I'm disappointed for Lamarr," he said twice — only fuelled doubts about his leadership.

In recent weeks, it was clear changes were coming. The question was how far up the ladder they would go.

Emery, who replaced the fired Jerry Angelo, was hired with the mandate that he work with former coach Lovie Smith for at least one season. He fired Smith after the Bears missed the playoffs despite a 10-6 record in 2012, ending a nine-year run that produced three playoff appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Since, then, the team has been in decline.

The decision to hire Trestman, who had never been a head coach in the NFL, backfired. Along with the distractions, there was a huge regression by the offence this season. Chicago went from second in scoring to 21st this year despite having all its starters back, and the fact that the man Trestman beat out for the job, Bruce Arians, is rolling along with the Arizona Cardinals does not make the hiring look any better.

Giving Cutler a big contract after last season when the franchise player tag was an option is looking like another miss for Emery, as is the three-year contract extension Marshall got in May. The trade that brought him from Miami before the 2012 season actually appeared to be a hit his first two years in Chicago as he was reunited with Cutler. But the drama combined with injuries that limited him and ultimately cut short his season changed the perception.

Emery had success rebuilding the offensive line before the 2013 season, drafting Kyle Long and bringing in Jermon Bushrod and Matt Slauson. But the makeover he gave the defence last off-season did not pay off. Chicago continued to rank among the league's worst in that area under Mel Tucker, with Jared Allen struggling and fellow newcomer Houston getting injured on that ill-advised sack celebration. Only the Saints and Falcons gave up more yards per game than the Bears.

Just like his predecessor, Emery also has a spotty draft record.

He connected with Long, a two-time Pro Bowl pick, and receiver Alshon Jeffery. Cornerback Kyle Fuller has showed some promise as a rookie this year, but Shea McClellin is looking like a bust after three seasons.