Looking back to the Trestman era....

Zion

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Now that we're past those painful and difficult times, it seems like a good time for a Trestman retrospective. Despite the near-legendary level of dysfunction that plagued those teams, I don't think I've once seen a comprehensive and clear explanation of what went wrong. I have fond memories of listening to post-game rants from Boers & Bernstein, that was some of the most entertaining Chicago sports radio I've ever heard. But aside from vague allusions to the dysfunction from Bernstein and Lance Briggs, I don't know if we've ever gotten the real dirt of what went on in that locker room. The players seem to follow a code of silence, for the most part. The most explicit thing that was revealed, AFAIK, is Trestman's bad habit of leading from the back, so to speak. He used to hold video review sessions like some tenured professor, too meek and cerebral for a group of meatheads.

Does anyone care to share any old articles or sources that details what really went on in the Trestman era that made it so dysfunctional?
 
Chief Walking Stick

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ikkoikki said:
Now that we're past those painful and difficult times, it seems like a good time for a Trestman retrospective. Despite the near-legendary level of dysfunction that plagued those teams, I don't think I've once seen a comprehensive and clear explanation of what went wrong. I have fond memories of listening to post-game rants from Boers & Bernstein, that was some of the most entertaining Chicago sports radio I've ever heard. But aside from vague allusions to the dysfunction from Bernstein and Lance Briggs, I don't know if we've ever gotten the real dirt of what went on in that locker room. The players seem to follow a code of silence, for the most part. The most explicit thing that was revealed, AFAIK, is Trestman's bad habit of leading from the back, so to speak. He used to hold video review sessions like some tenured professor, too meek and cerebral for a group of meatheads.

Does anyone care to share any old articles or sources that details what really went on in the Trestman era that made it so dysfunctional?
Click to expand...

The best part was Dan and Terry mocking Trestman throughout his entire pressers lmao.
 
modo

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The players had little respect for Trestman and the staff. The team was undisciplined, especially the defense....as much as we had issues with Cutler, the offensive coordinator was not professional and sold him out nationally.

Trestman had no control over that locker room or his staff.
 

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Players, especially on defense, had no respect for him. He was a crazy micromanager, which was the complete opposite of Lovie, who players had deep respect for. Once Urlacher left, most players, including Briggs, just sort of went through the motions.

I remember reading an article with a Bear who played for Trestman quoted. He said that Trestman would tell them stuff like "Now when we leave the practice field, make sure there's no trash anywhere. Anything recyclable needs to be placed in the recycle bins." And everyone was just like...we're NFL players, not janitors.

And also, Mel Tucker, one of the worst defensive minds in football.

Here's the article

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/1...man-would-pretend-like-he-didnt-see-anything/
 
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Remember when he promoted Jeremiah Ratliff to Captain for losing his shit and blowing up at a practice? When asked why he said "We liked his intensity" lmao.

The TLDR version of why it failed would be Trestman was a shitty leader, and everyone except Emery seemed to know. I remember several people that worked with him in San Fran alluding to him being a nerd introvert type that wouldn't have been a good coach but "Maybe his time in Canada changed him blah blah blah". Marinelli pretty much laughed when Trestman asked if he would be his defensive coordinator.

So glad we're past that shit.
 
Rory Sparrow

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ikkoikki said:
Now that we're past those painful and difficult times, it seems like a good time for a Trestman retrospective. Despite the near-legendary level of dysfunction that plagued those teams, I don't think I've once seen a comprehensive and clear explanation of what went wrong. I have fond memories of listening to post-game rants from Boers & Bernstein, that was some of the most entertaining Chicago sports radio I've ever heard. But aside from vague allusions to the dysfunction from Bernstein and Lance Briggs, I don't know if we've ever gotten the real dirt of what went on in that locker room. The players seem to follow a code of silence, for the most part. The most explicit thing that was revealed, AFAIK, is Trestman's bad habit of leading from the back, so to speak. He used to hold video review sessions like some tenured professor, too meek and cerebral for a group of meatheads.

Does anyone care to share any old articles or sources that details what really went on in the Trestman era that made it so dysfunctional?
Click to expand...

The NFL people I know who worked with Trestman thought he was extremely aloof. Some perceived it as arrogance. He was quick to take credit and equally quick to cast blame. He would eventually alienate himself from everyone in that particular organization, from the Head Coach to the office secretaries, and move on to a different team. If you look at Trestman's career, he typically had a shelf life of 1-2 years before being cast out. Same thing happened with the Bears.
 
JesusHalasChrist

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Trestman was bad, but no coach was going to be successful with a GM trying to build an offensive juggernaut around Jay Cutler.
 
Rory Sparrow

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JesusHalasChrist said:
Trestman was bad, but no coach was going to be successful with a GM trying to build an offensive juggernaut around Jay Cutler.
Click to expand...

I don't think Trestman was necessarily "bad", he was in some way exactly what I thought he would be. He jumpstarted the offense, had 1 year of relative success, and then needed to move on during Year 2. That's how he was as an assistant coach, so I don't know why the Bears thought Trestman would be different as a HC.

The Bears defensive players were all pretty much past their prime. In retrospect, it would have been better for Emery to have done a true housecleaning as opposed to letting an unproductive Lance Briggs stay on board and fester, for example. Same with the offense...it was like Emery was rebuilding, but at the same time giving the Cliff Stein contract to Jay Cutler.
 
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I used to post the Tresticles picture with glee. What a Special person.
 
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ikkoikki said:
Does anyone care to share any old articles or sources that details what really went on in the Trestman era that made it so dysfunctional?
Click to expand...
I think it all started to unravel when the lack of respect for recycling was made public.I mean how can you win if you can't tell the difference between a #1 and #4 plastic container?
 
Hawkeye OG

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Trestman was a beta male in a room full of alpha male egos. It was a recipe for disaster from the get go. Team had a ton of talent, but didn't have a leader they could all get behind. Then Mel Tucker.
 
Zion

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I wonder how a "nerd introvert type" even gets into the professional football business. It's not what you might think of as an environment for that type of personality.
 
Bearly

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modo said:
The players had little respect for Trestman and the staff. The team was undisciplined, especially the defense....as much as we had issues with Cutler, the offensive coordinator was not professional and sold him out nationally.
Click to expand...
And be defended for it on this board. We got some dumbshits here. The amount of dysfunction in year 2 of Trestman is unprecedented for any team that I can recall. I've seen as bad but not that sort of complete loss of composure and infighting.
 
bamainatlanta

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The amazing part is no one held Tucker accountable for his shit defenses or game plans. How he never was fired mid-season was a fucking mystery. Peppers basically said he didn't buy into his system
 
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