The Chicago Bears aren't wasting any time cleaning house. Like Bearsgeneral manager Phil Emery on his way out, coach Marc Trestman has been fired, the team announced Monday.
This is our annual reminder that fortunes change fast in the NFL. Late in the 2013 season, Trestman was viewed around the league as one of its foremost offensive minds and "quarterback gurus." He did an excellent job coaching up Jay Cutler and Josh McCown to productive seasons on the way to an 8-8 finish in 2013, but Chicago's defense collapsed, and Trestman's offense wasn't much better in 2014.
Cutler will be remembered in Chicago as a coach killer. He ran through four different offensive coordinators, two general managers and two head coaches since arriving in Chicago in 2009. The next Bears coach will have to decide whether he wants to take on Cutler, whose contract will be very difficult to move via trade. But it's possible that the Bearscould simply try to deal him in a salary dump.
It wasn't just Chicago's 5-11 2014 season that got Emery and Trestman fired. It was the way they lost. The Bears dropped their last six games of the season. When they faced contenders like Green Bay, New England, Dallas and Detroit, they weren't remotely competitive. Cutler regressed mentally, making turnovers and failing to adjust plays at the line of scrimmage. By the time offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer tearfully apologized to the team for speaking negatively about Cutler to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the writing was on the wall.
The team confirmed that Kromer's contract was also terminated Monday. However, the rest of the assistant coaches remain under contract, for the time being.
Trestman's leadership skills were questioned at times, but this firing was more about production. He was hired to fix the team's offense, and it sunk back below mediocrity in 2014. Trestman was Emery's hand-picked coach, and the Bears chose not to give Emery another swing at the plate.
Trestman finishes his first head coaching job in the NFL with a 13-19 record after starting in Chicago with a 6-4 record. It's hard to imagine Trestman getting another head coaching job this year, but he sounds like a great offensive coordinator option.
The Bears haven't made the playoffs since 2010 and their previously strong defense under Lovie Smith now looks like one of the league's worst groups. In Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett, the Bears have the makings of a strong fantasy football team. But the starpower didn't prove strong enough to save Trestman.
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