John E. Sokolowski – USA TODAY SPORTS
Having passed the Florida bar exam in 1983, new Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman is a lawyer. Usually, the label clubhouse lawyer has a negative connotation attached to it, but in this case, the Bears are hoping this clubhouse lawyer lawyer will be a positive influence on the team.
By all accounts, the Bears have hired a very good football coach with a sharp offensive mind needed in today’s wide open NFL. In five seasons, Trestman won two Grey Cup Championships in three appearances with the CFL Montreal Alouettes. Granted, there are only a total of eight teams in the Canadian Football League, which does not really diminish his accomplishment in Montreal.
When Trestman’s hiring was confirmed, the usually abrasive Montreal media had nothing but kind words for the former Alouettes coach. The way they were spreading it on so thick, you would think that they all suddenly became Bears fans.
Maybe this strange media lovefest for Trestman has something to do with him being a lawyer. Or maybe it has to do with all those in the media speaking with the same voice to not rock the boat. Who knows? Whatever the case, it is kind of odd for many cynical media types to unanimously play nice all of the sudden. It looks like everyone received the memo.
One thing which has not been highly publicized about Trestman is that he has lost a total of seven assistant coaches in the past two seasons with Montreal. And only one of these assistants, Scott Milanovich, left to become a CFL head coach, leading the Toronto Argonauts to a Grey Cup title this past season.
With such a large number of assistant coaches leaving one of the best teams in the CFL to make a lateral move, if that, one can deduce many assistants may not have had a very good working relationship with Trestman. Since the departed Alouettes assistants for the most part have remained quiet about their reasons for leaving Montreal, there is one common denominator here: Trestman.
If Trestman had such a transitionary relationship with his most important assistants (offensive, defensive and special teams), it will be interesting to see what type of relationship he will have with, not only his new assistants in Chicago, but with moody Bears QB Jay Cutler. Whatever the case, one thing is for sure: Trestman will be under a tremendous amount of pressure to surpass the Bears ten victories in 2012.
Change may be good, but for Trestman and his assistant coaches, it has been a way of life for the past couple of seasons. For a league like the NFL, which demands a certain amount of coaching stability for success, Trestman will have to make sure he keeps the assistant coaching changes to a minimum in order to succeed.
Twitter @HarrisDole
