Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
The winds of change are blowing at Halas Hall as the Chicago Bears have terminated general manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman. Trestman’s firing comes as no surprise; this has been brewing for several weeks. Despite his statements yesterday that he expected to be back as Chicago Bears head coach, it’s clear that Trestman saw the writing on the wall. Trestman released the following statement through the Bears PR department:
"“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. 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. Chicago is a special city with great fans. I appreciate the warm support my family and I received. ”"
Trestman may get some play as an offensive coordinator, but it’s more likely someone will give him a shot as a quarterbacks coach. Trestman spent the last few weeks trying to pin the Bears offensive shortcomings squarely on Jay Cutler. Cutler is certainly not without blame, but to say this entire season is on Cutler would be a mistake.
Trestman stood by Mel Tucker when the Bears defense ranked the worst in their history. That was followed up with another defensive disaster after only replacing a couple of defensive assistants low-lighted by allowing back-to-back 50+ point games. The Bears were 3-9 against the NFC North during Trestman’s tenure as head coach.
No one likes to see someone out of work, but with two years left on his multi-million dollar contract, Trestman won’t be standing on a street corner in Winnetka any time soon.