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Marc Trestman, the former head coach of the Chicago Bears, was favored for the offensive coordinator position for the Oakland Raiders. However, news tonight has Bill Musgrave going there to take the position. That leaves Trestman still available. With reports that Chan Gailey is no longer a lock to be the next offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, should the team pursue Trestman?
I would emphatically say yes. Trestman is a brilliant offensive mind, and is noted particularly for his work with quarterbacks. Under Trestman, Jay Cutler, Josh McCown, and Jimmy Clausen all had their best career performances. While Trestman obviously could not handle the locker room as a head coach, perhaps that comes down to him not being ready to be a head coach at the NFL level.
Other than Cutler, McCown, and Clausen, Trestman's history with quarterbacks goes back to 1983. As the quarterbacks coach of the University of Miami, Bernie Kosar became a star. To quote from wikipedia here:
Trestman joined the Detroit Lions as quarterbacks coach in 1997. That year Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell passed for 3,484 yards, fourth most in team history.
In 1998 he was with the Arizona Cardinals as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. That year quarterback Jake Plummer threw for 3,737 yards, and the Cardinals made the playoffs for the first time since 1982 and won their first post season game in 51 years.
He next went to the Oakland Raiders in 2001 as the quarterbacks coach. In 2002 he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Raiders led the NFL in total offense with 389.8 yards per game and passing yards with 279.7 per game. Under Trestman's guidance, Raiders QB Rich Gannon won the 2002 NFL MVP award as the Raiders reached Super Bowl XXXVII, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Trestman is a proven offensive mind that has a long history of developing quarterbacks. So much so that he's known as the QB Whisperer. Right now, is there anything this team needs more?
What do you think? Should the team pursue Trestman?