Chicago, IL

Marc Trestman of CFL's Montreal Alouettes is Chicago Bears' 14th head coach.

He succeeds Lovie Smith, who was fired on Dec. 31.

General Manager Phil Emery passed over Indianapolis Colts' offensive coordinator Bruce Arians and 11 others who interviewed for the job.

Trestman, 57, has a reputation for successfully developing quarterbacks, and he'll be challenged to improve Jay Cutler's performance.

He recently signed an extension with the Alouettes up to 2016, but will be likely allowed out of his CFL contract to join the Bears, according to a source.

In five seasons with the Alouettes, he led the team to three appearances in the Grey Cup, including consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010. He was named CFL coach of the year in 2009.

In addition to his duties as a coach, Trestman works during the offseason to prepare college quarterbacks for the NFL draft. Among them were Cutler and Bears backup Jason Campbell before their respective drafts.

Trestman possesses considerable experience in the NFL, where he's worked on staffs tutoring quarterbacks such as NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young (49ers from 1995-96), Rich Gannon (Raiders from 2001-03), and Bernie Kosar (1989).

Trestman also worked in 2007 with the New Orleans Saints as a consultant.

Young described him as a phenomenal coach with a phenomenal offensive mind and a great game-day playcaller. On the other hand, Gannon praised Trestman for "his ability to listen" as he works with quarterbacks.

The new Bears head coach isn't the first to make the jump from the CFL to the NFL. Marv Levy and Bud Grant had success after stops in Canada, leading their NFL teams to Super Bowl appearances.

 

 

The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs broke the story of the Bears hiring Canadian Football League head coach Marc Trestman and talks about why GM Phil Emery picked him.

NFL Bound: Bears Hire CFL Coach Marc Trestman

 

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