Trestman loving life at the top because it took so long to get there
MONTREAL — After all the years of uncertainty and anguish, after all the years of questioning himself, wondering what he might be doing wrong — why so many teams seemingly would kick the tires yet never close the deal — Marc Trestman has come to realize everything turned out right.
Trestman had to wait until he was 52 before becoming a professional football head coach with the Alouettes, and until age 57 before the story came full circle and he was hired by the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
Was it worth the agonizing wait? Most certainly. Had he known how the scenario would develop?
“I’m glad nobody told me,” he said.
Trestman undoubtedly will think about this, and more, Friday night, in the moments before he addresses the halftime crowd at Molson Stadium during the game between Montreal and Winnipeg. He’ll likely talk about how the stars, finally, all aligned — how Alexia Calvillo’s cancer went into remission, allowing her husband to resume his career in 2008, corresponding with Trestman’s arrival.
“It was a miracle. The stars were aligned,” Trestman said Wednesday afternoon.
“If Alexia had, God forbid, not gone into remission, Anthony wouldn’t have played,” Trestman said. “That’s the reality. If Anthony doesn’t continue to play, who knows if we’d be sitting here like this today.” Of course, it wasn’t that simple. In five seasons with the Als, Trestman’s teams went to three consecutive Grey Cups, winning twice. He won 59 regular season games, one more than Don Matthews — and 16 better than Marv Levy, the three great modern-era head coaches this franchise has known.
Trestman was the Canadian Football League’s coach of the year in 2009.
“I’m just appreciative of what happened here in every respect,” Trestman said.
The irony might be that Trestman was at his lowest point professionally when the Als came calling. After years as an NFL offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach, he took a job at North Carolina State, the family settling in Raleigh, because he figured there would be more stability. He vowed not to move the family again.
Two years later, he was fired. Trestman was worked later that year as a consultant with the New Orleans Saints, if only to keep his name circulating.
But Jim Popp needed no reminder. The Als’ general manager recommended Trestman to owner Bob Wetenhall following the season. Popp believed Trestman could give the team’s offence a boost.
It turned out being a stroke of genius.
Trestman stopped worrying about first downs, quarterback efficiency and wins and losses. He became humble and unselfish. He became a teacher and decided it was his mandate to serve the players and coaches.
“I was more concerned with first downs than people,” he admitted. “That all changed when I had time to step away and realize it wasn’t working for me.”
Trestman was one of 13 candidates to interview with Chicago.
“I was very lucky to run into a general manager (Phil Emery) who saw something in me,” Trestman said. “We connected. Our journeys and backgrounds resonated.”
The blueprint Trestman made successful in Montreal, he said, has continued in Chicago. Different leagues, higher-paid athletes, but the mandate and culture remain the same.
Trestman understands the stage and platform are much bigger, the fishbowl all that much greater and deeper. He’s coaching one of the NFL’s most-storied franchises. No longer does he have the same control over his life.
“I wake up daily and still think this is absolutely amazing, figuratively pinching myself,” said Trestman.
Trestman knows the stakes are potentially higher now. He inherited a 10-6 team that didn’t make the playoffs. And one that went 8-8 last season under his watch, although the Bears were ravaged by injuries, including the loss, for a time, of starting quarterback Jay Cutler.
“You have to win, that’s the bottom line,” he said. “I hold myself accountable for being 8-8. I don’t hold injuries, talent, backup quarterbacks. ... It starts right here.”