Bears hire Marc Trestman

The Chicago Bears will announce Marc Trestman has been hired as their 14th coach today.

Trestman, the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes the last five seasons, was selected by general manager Phil Emery in the early morning hours, an NFL source told the Chicago Tribune. Trestman becomes the 14th coach in franchise history and replaces Lovie Smith, who was fired on Dec. 31 after nine seasons.

Trestman, an inventive offensive mind who last worked in the NFL in 2004 for the Miami Dolphins, was selected over Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. The Bears were seeking a coach to help overhaul their offense around quarterback Jay Cutler.

Trestman made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons with the Alouettes and won two Grey Cup titles. He’s considered a quarterback guru and that likely helped put him over the top.

“The skill set that Marc has, being an offensive mind, and then his great relationships that he's had with quarterbacks historically in the NFL and the work he's done with them makes him a good fit for the job,” Alouettes general manager Jim Popp said.

“A lot of guys want to be head coaches. Some leave the NFL to go to NCAA schools, and then once they've proven themselves, all of a sudden those college coaches are some of the hot commodities to be an NFL coach. It's no different. Coach Trestman has run a professional team as a head coach for five years. He's had a winning record for five years. He's proven himself as a head coach at a professional level. You can call it what you want, but on-hand training as a head coach and proof goes a long way, goes a real long way. You can't replace that.”

It is not known specifically what Trestman’s plans are for the Bears defense but it is considered a possibility the club will retain defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and some of the staff on that side of the ball.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune

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