Of all the possible candidates I thought Phil Emery would hire after firing Lovie Smith, Mark Trestman was not on my list. As I am not a follower of the CFL, obsessed with the fortunes of current and former NFL assistants, and am not one of the quarterbacks he helped prepare for the pros, I would be hard pressed to know who he was. Before his named popped up during the coaching search, the only other time I had heard it was an episode of 30 Rock, and I probably assumed he was just a star player on the Grey Cup winning Alouettes.
Nevertheless, as I got to know his resume and hear what people are saying about him, I feel really good about him being the Bears head coach. He sounds very smart, very details oriented, and very methodical. Intelligence doesn't necessarily translate to being a great coach* but it certainly can help. Hopefully he'll be able to end some of the chaos and confusion that has dominated the Bears sidelines for as far back as I can remember. I would love to see those damn early 2nd quarter time outs to disappear.
Given his reputation as a "quarterback whisperer", I'm eager to see if he can help Jay Cutler be the quarterback we were hoping he'd be. My guess is that he'll help Cutler turn the ship around, or Cutler (and perhaps Trestman) could go down in a maelstrom of Jeff Georgeian suckitude. Only time will tell.
Beyond Cutler, I'm wonder how the rest of the team will respond to the new coach. It's no shock that a lot of the players disagreed with the firing of Lovie Smith. It's possible Devin Hester may not play another down for the team, and I'm sure there will be other Bears players who just won't fit with the changed environment. Although its not guaranteed as of yet, the possibility that they'll keep Rod Marinelli as the Defensive Coordinator might help smooth the waters. Of course, that assumes Marinelli sticks around, and being a friend of Lovie he may find another place to be defensive coordinator, like longtime special teams coach Dave Toub did.
Mark Trestman is the first coach from the offensive side of the ball hired by the Bears since Mike Ditka in 1982. I'm hopeful that he'll be able to bring that elusive consistency which has dogged the Bears offense for as long as I can remember. Any amount of improvement he can get from Cutler will help, but it might be for naught if he can't get the offensive line fixed.
Beyond who Phil Emery hired, I was impressed with how he made the choice. It was done smoothly, with apparent due diligence, and without the usual Bears screw ups. Barring anything crazy, like Trestman turns out to be an internet hoax, there won't be anything like the Dave McGinnis debacle.
Perhaps Trestman won't work out. Perhaps he'll lead the Bears to that elusive Super Bowl championship. For now, I'm happy with the fact that the team seems to finally showing signs of consistent competency in off field matters. Now only if that competency can translate to the field.
*Case in point: Dick Jauron
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