View From Montreal

[canadianbear]

Hey all,

 

Been a long time since I last posted, but I am on the site daily.

 

My 2 cents regarding the hire (first reaction - I will have more later):

 

First of all, I am indeed a fan of the Allouettes (Being born and raised in Montreal), but I would trade 100 consecutive Grey Cups (and throw in some Cups for the Habs) for one Superbowl ring.

 

A few notes on Da new coach

- When he joined the CFL, he wanted to prove he could be a head coach. He "lingered" in the NFL as OC, QB coach etc, but wasn’t inline for a legit shot at the main job. He easily could have stayed on it the NFL, and made a ton more money, but chose to go to the CFL to prove he can be the leader. He did so successfully. This was clearly part of his larger plan. He took a HUGE career risk, and it has finally paid off. There is no way however he will be satisfied. Like a player being drafted lower than expected, I expect Coach Trestman will coach with a Chip on his shoulder.

 

- He came into a new league (3 downs, WR motion allowed, 12 men per side, much larger field etc) and hired people around him to help him learn. Fast. Montreal always had a top offense under his reign.

 

- Ran a hybrid West coast offense. A lot of 3-5 step. I expect the same with the Bears.

 

- Being as cerebral as he is, expect a lot of play on match-ups.

 

- Does not forget about the run. In fact, he used his RB's extremely well in pass driven league. I expect a HUGE next few years for Forte. HUGE. Especially receiving.

 

- The CFL does not really use a tight end. It is a QB/WR league. I am very interested what his approach will be regarding TE's

 

- Does NOT sit on leads until it is logical to do so. If anything, he opens the offense up with the lead (deep passes etc). We experienced a ton of blowouts in his CFL career.

 

- His defense was fast and aggressive. Lots of corner blitzes. I would expect him to keep coach Marinelli in order to build on last years success, but give Marinelli a directive regarding blitz packages.

 

- Make no mistake however: He was brought in to make Cutler a better QB and to bring our offense into the new generation of the NFL.

 

- Every QB under Trestman's "rule" has gotten better and put up numbers. Regardless of league.

 

- His QB in Montreal was Anthony Calvillo. Look him up. He is the all time yardage passing leader in north American football history.

 

- Without question, he grew tremendously under coach Trestman.

 

- He let Calvillo run the offense from the line. Once he feels comfortable with Jay, expect no-huddle with Jay being in control. Alot.

 

- His oline in Montreal had alot of turnover, and the offense thrived year after year. That being said, I haven’t a clue what he plans to do with our oline, but I can guarantee he wont let the status quo continue. He knows that Jay is the key, and must be protected. Will we go to a zone blocking scheme? Lets wait until OC is named. The personnel will also fall on Emry. It must all be part of his "master plan"

 

 

Other observations of coach Trestman:

 

Extremely smart - Goodbye to the phrase "Our coach is an idiot" because it no longer applies. He is as cerebral as it gets. Expect proper use of timeout and red flag use.

Shows a little more emotion that Lovie. Granted, that doesnt say much, but I have seen him smile/grimace a few times on the side line.

Dont expect exciting Press conferences either.

Player coach - Never gets in a players grill. Doesnt Scream. Ever.

In locker room shots, he ALWAYS praises the other team after a victory or loss. I always found this annoying.

Always wears a sweatshirt, Belichick style

 

Concerns:

Has not been in NFL for 8 years. Even if he watched the NFL religiously, will he be rusty.

When coaches are pulled from other teams, players tend to go with him. He brings in his "guys". After 8 years, does coach Trestman have any guys? I don’t see him bringing up any CFL'ers.

Just wish we had a coach that shows some damn emotion, but cant ask for everything.

Another Nice guy. The days of Ditka are LOOOOONG gone.

 

 

Should be interesting. Looking forward to see how he builds up the team.

[ChileBear]

 

Thanks for the insight CanadianBear

[Connorbear]

Great update - thanks.

 

[Lucky Luciano]

- Ran a hybrid West coast offense. A lot of 3-5 step. I expect the same with the Bears.

 

- Being as cerebral as he is, expect a lot of play on match-ups.

 

- Does not forget about the run. In fact, he used his RB's extremely well in pass driven league. I expect a HUGE next few years for Forte. HUGE. Especially receiving.

 

- The CFL does not really use a tight end. It is a QB/WR league. I am very interested what his approach will be regarding TE's

 

- Does NOT sit on leads until it is logical to do so. If anything, he opens the offense up with the lead (deep passes etc). We experienced a ton of blowouts in his CFL career.

 

- His defense was fast and aggressive. Lots of corner blitzes. I would expect him to keep coach Marinelli in order to build on last years success, but give Marinelli a directive regarding blitz packages.

 

everything you list here is important information on hopefully how this franchise moves forward.

 

to me a key point is how he will react to whoever he has running the defense and understands the nuances of what needs to be done to succeed and not just coast along as lovie did over his entire tenure in chicago. if he can refocus marinelli especially on how our DB's play and certainly his blitz packages it could work out.

 

at this point i am happy with what we have done. i especially like the hire for OC as this gives us a HC who can groom qb's and an OC, kromer, who really understands how to work with your OL. it sounds like a great combination.

 

emery so far (his drafts will eventually define his success or failure) has done his job well. i like the quick hire of our OC. that to me was certainly a major plus. trestman is certainly a risky choice but the rewards could be huge.

['TD']

Thanks CanadianBear, the more I can read on Trestman the better.

[madlithuanian]

Much thanks on the info!

 

I'm very excited to see what he can offer.

 

I see a guy, while mild mannered, that appears to be very intense and always thinking things through. I eagerly await our future!

 

Hey all,

 

Been a long time since I last posted, but I am on the site daily.

 

My 2 cents regarding the hire (first reaction - I will have more later):

 

First of all, I am indeed a fan of the Allouettes (Being born and raised in Montreal), but I would trade 100 consecutive Grey Cups (and throw in some Cups for the Habs) for one Superbowl ring.

 

A few notes on Da new coach

- When he joined the CFL, he wanted to prove he could be a head coach. He "lingered" in the NFL as OC, QB coach etc, but wasn’t inline for a legit shot at the main job. He easily could have stayed on it the NFL, and made a ton more money, but chose to go to the CFL to prove he can be the leader. He did so successfully. This was clearly part of his larger plan. He took a HUGE career risk, and it has finally paid off. There is no way however he will be satisfied. Like a player being drafted lower than expected, I expect Coach Trestman will coach with a Chip on his shoulder.

 

- He came into a new league (3 downs, WR motion allowed, 12 men per side, much larger field etc) and hired people around him to help him learn. Fast. Montreal always had a top offense under his reign.

 

- Ran a hybrid West coast offense. A lot of 3-5 step. I expect the same with the Bears.

 

- Being as cerebral as he is, expect a lot of play on match-ups.

 

- Does not forget about the run. In fact, he used his RB's extremely well in pass driven league. I expect a HUGE next few years for Forte. HUGE. Especially receiving.

 

- The CFL does not really use a tight end. It is a QB/WR league. I am very interested what his approach will be regarding TE's

 

- Does NOT sit on leads until it is logical to do so. If anything, he opens the offense up with the lead (deep passes etc). We experienced a ton of blowouts in his CFL career.

 

- His defense was fast and aggressive. Lots of corner blitzes. I would expect him to keep coach Marinelli in order to build on last years success, but give Marinelli a directive regarding blitz packages.

 

- Make no mistake however: He was brought in to make Cutler a better QB and to bring our offense into the new generation of the NFL.

 

- Every QB under Trestman's "rule" has gotten better and put up numbers. Regardless of league.

 

- His QB in Montreal was Anthony Calvillo. Look him up. He is the all time yardage passing leader in north American football history.

 

- Without question, he grew tremendously under coach Trestman.

 

- He let Calvillo run the offense from the line. Once he feels comfortable with Jay, expect no-huddle with Jay being in control. Alot.

 

- His oline in Montreal had alot of turnover, and the offense thrived year after year. That being said, I haven’t a clue what he plans to do with our oline, but I can guarantee he wont let the status quo continue. He knows that Jay is the key, and must be protected. Will we go to a zone blocking scheme? Lets wait until OC is named. The personnel will also fall on Emry. It must all be part of his "master plan"

 

 

Other observations of coach Trestman:

 

Extremely smart - Goodbye to the phrase "Our coach is an idiot" because it no longer applies. He is as cerebral as it gets. Expect proper use of timeout and red flag use.

Shows a little more emotion that Lovie. Granted, that doesnt say much, but I have seen him smile/grimace a few times on the side line.

Dont expect exciting Press conferences either.

Player coach - Never gets in a players grill. Doesnt Scream. Ever.

In locker room shots, he ALWAYS praises the other team after a victory or loss. I always found this annoying.

Always wears a sweatshirt, Belichick style

 

Concerns:

Has not been in NFL for 8 years. Even if he watched the NFL religiously, will he be rusty.

When coaches are pulled from other teams, players tend to go with him. He brings in his "guys". After 8 years, does coach Trestman have any guys? I don’t see him bringing up any CFL'ers.

Just wish we had a coach that shows some damn emotion, but cant ask for everything.

Another Nice guy. The days of Ditka are LOOOOONG gone.

 

 

Should be interesting. Looking forward to see how he builds up the team.

 

[scs787]

Hey all,

 

Been a long time since I last posted, but I am on the site daily.

 

My 2 cents regarding the hire (first reaction - I will have more later):

 

First of all, I am indeed a fan of the Allouettes (Being born and raised in Montreal), but I would trade 100 consecutive Grey Cups (and throw in some Cups for the Habs) for one Superbowl ring.

 

A few notes on Da new coach

- When he joined the CFL, he wanted to prove he could be a head coach. He "lingered" in the NFL as OC, QB coach etc, but wasn’t inline for a legit shot at the main job. He easily could have stayed on it the NFL, and made a ton more money, but chose to go to the CFL to prove he can be the leader. He did so successfully. This was clearly part of his larger plan. He took a HUGE career risk, and it has finally paid off. There is no way however he will be satisfied. Like a player being drafted lower than expected, I expect Coach Trestman will coach with a Chip on his shoulder.

 

- He came into a new league (3 downs, WR motion allowed, 12 men per side, much larger field etc) and hired people around him to help him learn. Fast. Montreal always had a top offense under his reign.

 

- Ran a hybrid West coast offense. A lot of 3-5 step. I expect the same with the Bears.

 

- Being as cerebral as he is, expect a lot of play on match-ups.

 

- Does not forget about the run. In fact, he used his RB's extremely well in pass driven league. I expect a HUGE next few years for Forte. HUGE. Especially receiving.

 

- The CFL does not really use a tight end. It is a QB/WR league. I am very interested what his approach will be regarding TE's

 

- Does NOT sit on leads until it is logical to do so. If anything, he opens the offense up with the lead (deep passes etc). We experienced a ton of blowouts in his CFL career.

 

- His defense was fast and aggressive. Lots of corner blitzes. I would expect him to keep coach Marinelli in order to build on last years success, but give Marinelli a directive regarding blitz packages.

 

- Make no mistake however: He was brought in to make Cutler a better QB and to bring our offense into the new generation of the NFL.

 

- Every QB under Trestman's "rule" has gotten better and put up numbers. Regardless of league.

 

- His QB in Montreal was Anthony Calvillo. Look him up. He is the all time yardage passing leader in north American football history.

 

- Without question, he grew tremendously under coach Trestman.

 

- He let Calvillo run the offense from the line. Once he feels comfortable with Jay, expect no-huddle with Jay being in control. Alot.

 

- His oline in Montreal had alot of turnover, and the offense thrived year after year. That being said, I haven’t a clue what he plans to do with our oline, but I can guarantee he wont let the status quo continue. He knows that Jay is the key, and must be protected. Will we go to a zone blocking scheme? Lets wait until OC is named. The personnel will also fall on Emry. It must all be part of his "master plan"

 

 

Other observations of coach Trestman:

 

Extremely smart - Goodbye to the phrase "Our coach is an idiot" because it no longer applies. He is as cerebral as it gets. Expect proper use of timeout and red flag use.

Shows a little more emotion that Lovie. Granted, that doesnt say much, but I have seen him smile/grimace a few times on the side line.

Dont expect exciting Press conferences either.

Player coach - Never gets in a players grill. Doesnt Scream. Ever.

In locker room shots, he ALWAYS praises the other team after a victory or loss. I always found this annoying.

Always wears a sweatshirt, Belichick style

 

Concerns:

Has not been in NFL for 8 years. Even if he watched the NFL religiously, will he be rusty.

When coaches are pulled from other teams, players tend to go with him. He brings in his "guys". After 8 years, does coach Trestman have any guys? I don’t see him bringing up any CFL'ers.

Just wish we had a coach that shows some damn emotion, but cant ask for everything.

Another Nice guy. The days of Ditka are LOOOOONG gone.

 

 

Should be interesting. Looking forward to see how he builds up the team.

 

 

This all goes along with what I've read about him, thanks for the info eh.

 

The bold part seems to me he just goes along with the game plan of a West Coast Offense...wear them down early with the short game then that opens up things over the top later on in the game...as long as they upgrade the line I don't see why this isn't a top 10 offense next year!

 

I also agree with you on Forte having a HUGE year, all of his past offenses I've looked up had the RB with 70+ catches...Forte is such a good receiver too, it wouldnt surprise me if he had an MVP type season.

[jason]

This is my favorite thread in Talk Bear history.

 

Thanks for the update CanadianBear! Sounds like my kind of coach on both offense AND defense.

[madlithuanian]

It's a rare day when it appears almost 100% of us are in great spirits!

 

 

This is my favorite thread in Talk Bear history.

 

Thanks for the update CanadianBear! Sounds like my kind of coach on both offense AND defense.

 

[Bears4Ever_34]

Sounds like Greg Williams would match Trestman's approach to defense .

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Other observations of coach Trestman:

 

Extremely smart - Goodbye to the phrase "Our coach is an idiot" because it no longer applies. He is as cerebral as it gets. Expect proper use of timeout and red flag use.

Shows a little more emotion that Lovie. Granted, that doesnt say much, but I have seen him smile/grimace a few times on the side line.

Dont expect exciting Press conferences either.

Player coach - Never gets in a players grill. Doesnt Scream. Ever.

In locker room shots, he ALWAYS praises the other team after a victory or loss. I always found this annoying.

Always wears a sweatshirt, Belichick style

 

Concerns:

Has not been in NFL for 8 years. Even if he watched the NFL religiously, will he be rusty.

When coaches are pulled from other teams, players tend to go with him. He brings in his "guys". After 8 years, does coach Trestman have any guys? I don’t see him bringing up any CFL'ers.

Just wish we had a coach that shows some damn emotion, but cant ask for everything.

Another Nice guy. The days of Ditka are LOOOOONG gone.

 

Howdy 'neighbor':

 

Thanks for the great insight. Looking forward to what is in store from Coach Trestman. Funny how some of the original thoughts you mentioned above are similar charactersistics we saw in Lovie ("player coach", no "exciting press conferences", little emotion) - which coincidently are a lot of traits that people listed they didn't like about Lovie. But I also thought, like you noted, he reminds me somewhat of Belichick as well..not just the sweatshirt but the cereberal unassuming approach that I've heard referred to.

 

Should be interesting. Looking forward to see how he builds up the team.

 

And I thought of this (along with the bolded above). I know you meant players as "his guys" but could be concerned with the role Trestman sees himself in if Emery is driving the boat and bringing in the coaches he wants to work with Trestman, instead of what Trestman wants. I would be curious to see what the conversation was between the two when/if the discussion came up about "who do you want as your DC, OC etc?" I recall Emery saying something to the effect of hoping to keep Marinelli and part of the Defensive coaching staff because they were the consistently strong part of the team, but that it wouldn't be required of the new HC. What I didn't hear was the Offensive side...did Trestman suggest Kromer and DeCamillis as his assistants or was this Emery's call? I have to think with Trestman being out of the NFL for awhile it probably was Emery's call...after all they weren't in Canada. Not that that is totally bad, as you pointed out, Trestman has been out of the NFL for awhile so it would be good to have someone(s) working with him that are in tuned to the idiosyncrocises of the NFL. My point and concern is, I hope that it doesn't turn into a dramatic mess just as the season is beginning to kick off because the similar philosophies weren't there.

[lemonej]

Howdy 'neighbor':

 

Thanks for the great insight. Looking forward to what is in store from Coach Trestman. Funny how some of the original thoughts you mentioned above are similar charactersistics we saw in Lovie ("player coach", no "exciting press conferences", little emotion) - which coincidently are a lot of traits that people listed they didn't like about Lovie. But I also thought, like you noted, he reminds me somewhat of Belichick as well..not just the sweatshirt but the cereberal unassuming approach that I've heard referred to.

 

 

 

And I thought of this (along with the bolded above). I know you meant players as "his guys" but could be concerned with the role Trestman sees himself in if Emery is driving the boat and bringing in the coaches he wants to work with Trestman, instead of what Trestman wants. I would be curious to see what the conversation was between the two when/if the discussion came up about "who do you want as your DC, OC etc?" I recall Emery saying something to the effect of hoping to keep Marinelli and part of the Defensive coaching staff because they were the consistently strong part of the team, but that it wouldn't be required of the new HC. What I didn't hear was the Offensive side...did Trestman suggest Kromer and DeCamillis as his assistants or was this Emery's call? I have to think with Trestman being out of the NFL for awhile it probably was Emery's call...after all they weren't in Canada. Not that that is totally bad, as you pointed out, Trestman has been out of the NFL for awhile so it would be good to have someone(s) working with him that are in tuned to the idiosyncrocises of the NFL. My point and concern is, I hope that it doesn't turn into a dramatic mess just as the season is beginning to kick off because the similar philosophies weren't there.

 

I would find it hard to believe a guy with Tresstman's experience doesn't have some buddies in this league especially since Jimmy Johnson is the guy who predicted that two of his guys would get HC jobs. If he needs to dial up someone for some referrals, who better than JJ?One other thought is since it isn't a slam dunk that Marinelli might stay.Throw him a bone by bringing in his son-in law Joe Barry as LB coach(good bye Babich) to see if he will stay or see how Butch Davis feels about getting back in the league as a DC.

[BearFan2000]

Thanks for the insight CanadianBear, I've gone from hearing we interviewed a CFL guy (thinking this has to be a joke), to learning about him to the point where he was the one out of the finalist's I wanted. I like what I've read and heard about Trestman, and thrilled with our OC hire, as well as the Special Teams coach hire. Whether we keep Rod as DC or he brings in his own guy, I would lean towards keeping Rod because I feel like from what you've described I think they could work together well.

 

There is risk in this move but but I think it's not risk for the sake of risk. I feel Emery did his due diligence in the search and in this hire. I like how quickly things are coming together, and that it doesn't appear to just be quick decisions but also smart decisions. I'm excited to see what Trestman and his staff will do with the Bears. Could we finally see the makings of a balanced football team not reliant on turnovers and defensive scores to keep us in games till the gets going, or has to practically win games for us. We have a very good defense who's very skilled at creating turnovers, but it's time we had an offense that can carry the load with or without the D getting those takeaways and scores. There sure seems to be a change of culture at Halas Hall from the firing of Angelo, and hiring of Emery, to George taking a larger more hands on approach and seems focused and intent on bringing championships to Chicago. I feel like Papa Bear would be proud of George and hopefully with him, Emery, and Trestman, we can have a football team that would make Papa Bear proud. It feels like new life has been breathed into this once proud franchise. Can't wait for FA and the draft!!!!

[BearFan2000]

And I thought of this (along with the bolded above). I know you meant players as "his guys" but could be concerned with the role Trestman sees himself in if Emery is driving the boat and bringing in the coaches he wants to work with Trestman, instead of what Trestman wants. I would be curious to see what the conversation was between the two when/if the discussion came up about "who do you want as your DC, OC etc?" I recall Emery saying something to the effect of hoping to keep Marinelli and part of the Defensive coaching staff because they were the consistently strong part of the team, but that it wouldn't be required of the new HC. What I didn't hear was the Offensive side...did Trestman suggest Kromer and DeCamillis as his assistants or was this Emery's call? I have to think with Trestman being out of the NFL for awhile it probably was Emery's call...after all they weren't in Canada. Not that that is totally bad, as you pointed out, Trestman has been out of the NFL for awhile so it would be good to have someone(s) working with him that are in tuned to the idiosyncrocises of the NFL. My point and concern is, I hope that it doesn't turn into a dramatic mess just as the season is beginning to kick off because the similar philosophies weren't there.

 

I do recall an article mentioning of the 3 finalists both Trestman and Bevell were inclinded to keep Rod. But that the new coach would have the freedom to build the staff that he wants. Also remember the word was that the first interview with Tresman was something like 8 hours or at least longer than usual. What I believe is that the staff positions and who has the final say on them is Trestman but I would believe that Trestman is smart enough to gather as much info about who's available who could be available, who would be a good fit at the different spots. I also believe that Regardless of whether Rod stays or goes they have a plan in mind if he stays and a plan in mind if he goes, and both may be in the works at the same time. Time will tell what the final staff will look like. I'm sure being out of the NFL for 8 years Trestman is going to pick a lot of peoples brains and study a lot of different guys. My guess is the final interview they were looking at options for the staff. I believe it's a good thing for the coach and GM to be on the same page and work well together at building this staff. This will help so much in how we attack free agency and the upcoming draft.