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| Marc Trestman |
The Bears were embarrassed out of their football uniforms in New England on October 26th, as the Patriots mauled them 51-23. After a Bye week of licking their wounds, suturing lacerations, and preparing for the operating table at Lambeau Field, they follow up with a fine encore of a performance worthy of the record books of infamy: Packers drilled them 55-14 yesterday evening. A glance at these numbers say outright that two weeks of preparation resulted in an even worse performance. I mean, each Bear was humiliated right out of their jock straps, and were chasing after their own tails totally butt naked up in northern Wisconsin.
Fans were in an absolute uproar, and must have collectively called for the heads of Phil Emery, Marc Trestman, and any of his coaches on a black-and-orange platter. Preferably with an apple in each of their mouths. Trestman was his usual sterile, diplomatic, implacable self in his press conference this afternoon, and what can the man say that he hasn't already said? Reporters asked if any assistant would get his pink slip. He said no, that he had confidence in the job his staff was doing (huh). One asked if the embattled and under-performing Jay Cutler would be benched. He went roundabout to say, once again, no. In a way, these questions were flatly unfair, as the media and fans know that Trestman doesn't really have the authority or courage to take tough action.
Football Competency
The buck stops with Trestman as far as the football team and its performance are concerned. He has a solid resume of experiences, mainly as a quarterback coach and offensive coordinator in the NFL. Before joining the Bears early in 2013, he was head coach in the CFL, and took home the Grey Cup championship with the Montreal Alouettes in 2009 and 2010. He was also Coach of the Year in 2009, so not bad at all. The man has been coaching football since 1981.
I wonder, though, if we probe beyond these experiences and into his cranium, how much he really understands football, especially defense. Presumably he knows far more than the average fan, but whatever it is, Is it sufficient in an NFL head coach role? I just don't have confidence that he does. The defense was a train wreck in his first year with the Bears, and this year? The Patriots and Packers can answer that question much better than I can. Of course he doesn't have to be a defensive guru to be a good head coach, but he has to know enough about that side of the ball to identify and evaluate the right defensive coordinator. The Titanic of a disaster that is the defense suggests that he can do neither.
Moreover, I wonder if how fit and effective he would be as offensive coordinator. His resume in the NFL is marked by one- to two-year stints and a couple of gaps. His most stable gig was with the CFL, but I imagine it doesn't compare that well to the NFL. This year his playcalling has been rather suspect. For example, his default has been to pass on 3rd down, even when it's short or when it's goal-to-go. He and Cutler don't seem wired to run the football, even though they have a premier running back on their team, that is, Matt Forte.
So about all that I see him truly capable of is quarterback coach. But perhaps he can learn and develop his football competency, and thus become a better coach. I would've hoped that in the off-season, which is relatively lengthy for the NFL, he had done so, but his performance as head coach absolutely worsened in his sophomore year.
Emotional Intelligence
Trestman is baffled. In his press conference, he talked about how well his players practiced, how well they followed coaches direction, and how well they listened to him in particular. Then, for him and everyone else to witness the nationally-televised implosion last night, I'd say that's pretty baffling indeed. Former Bear Tom Thayer came on The Score this morning, and basically said practice doesn't necessarily translate onto on-field, in-game performance. So something is terribly wrong with this picture, and the buck-stops-here head coach clearly doesn't have a clue.
My guess is that the man has insufficient Emotional Intelligence to discern the unspoken communication, maybe the body language or locker room whispers filtering through his team. No doubt, Trestman is a really good guy and a class act. You can count on him not to throw you under the bus, if you make a mistake, even repeated mistakes. He is tolerant and diplomatic to a T, and my guess, too, is that players like him for that.
However, do they truly respect him, or have confidence in him, or share his vision for the team (whatever that might be), that's an open question, it seems. Emotional Intelligence is what helps us see below the surface, tap a wellspring of thoughts and emotions, and generally make sense of things that aren't subject to logic, rationale or analysis. The man seems to live wholly in the Left Brain, and at the same time has a sham of a Right Brain.
Leadership Authority
To be blunt, Trestman needs to grow some balls. So he has one hallmark of great leadership that James Collins and his research team found several years ago: Such a leader is first to accept blame when things go wrong, and is the first to credit the team when things go right. Another hallmark is that a great leader is tough as nails around results. He (or she) makes sure that the right people are on the bus and at the same time the wrong people are off the bus. Trestman is frankly pathetic on this latter point.
In Bears alone in Chicago struggles, Melissa Isaacson tactfully compared him to his city counterparts: Bulls Tom Thibodeau and Blackhawks Joel Quenneville. Essentially they make absolutely no bones about what they expect of their respective players, and to Collins' points they are not hesitant to hold any of them accountable for their performance. Quenneville in particular benches, or even scratches, players who commit egregious errors on the ice. Thibodeau is the same way. Both men have balls in other words.
After nearly two years with the team now, we can see clearly that Trestman is who Trestman is. It's doubtful that GM Phil Emery will do anything before season's end. He is a case study in his own right, but I think he's done a fine job of getting the right players for coaches to work with. In fact there is so much talent on both sides of the football, that is, on offense and defense. But his questionably competent, tone deaf, and cowardly hire, and his band of merry men, are simply not cutting the mustard.
The Bears are a storied franchise, and it goes back to the great George Halas. Look at what Emery, Trestman et al. are doing to his baby. He has to be doing more than just turning in his grave; he must be clamoring to break out of that coffin, come back to the sidelines and his namesake office (Halas Hall), and whip everyone into shape.
In the meantime, I no longer feel a need to watch their games. I love sports, and I love football in particular. But there are much better teams and games to sample, and I love Quenneville's team above all. So in my really hectic schedule, I have to prioritize, and be strategic with, what I'm going to watch, study and follow. It's the Blackhawks.
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