Trestman gets rave reviews from Bears, Alouettes
BY ADAM L. JAHNS ajahns@suntimes.com January 16, 2013 11:41PM
Mark Trestman
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Updated: February 19, 2013 2:24PM
Bears defensive end Corey Wootton was overseas on vacation Wednesday. He had no phone service, but of course he knew about the hiring of new head coach Marc Trestman.
“I think most of us have been reading and seeing what the coach search has been like and have been anxious to see who the next coach would be,” Wootton said via text. “I’ve heard a lot of people such as Steve Young and coach Trestman’s former players in Montreal say nothing but positive things about him.
“Every year, there is new excitement, but I think this year [it’s] because of a new coaching staff and getting together with these new coaches and find out new terminology [and] schemes.”
The excitement didn’t end there.
“I absolutely love the hire,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said, “and the few guys I’ve talked to love it, too.”
Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo highlighted Trestman’s ability to improve the offensive line. The Alouettes allowed 68 sacks in 2007, 22 a year later.
“When he arrived we kept the same five offensive linemen,” Calvillo said. “What he did was just adapt and change our protection, inside [to] out. ... And then all the small details in this offense that we had to learn was insane. ... There’s a lot of information, but when everybody is the same page and trusts in all the details you can definitely have a lot of success.”
Montreal players said Trestman listened to them.
“He’s a quiet guy, but he tries to reach everybody,” receiver S.J. Green said. “He really takes the time to become personable with everyone. ... He’s not a rah-rah guy. He’s not a bum-you-out, cuss-you-out, embarrass-you type of guy. But he’ll get his point his across.”
Contributing: Sean Jensen
