Trestman named new Bears coach

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Phil Emery has found his man.

The Bears general manager made a splash Wednesday, hiring 57-year-old Marc Trestman to roam the sidelines of Chicago next season as the Bears head coach. He will be introduced at a 11 a.m. press conference at Halas Hall on Thursday, which will air live on Comcast SportsNet and will be live streamed at CSNChicago.com.

Trestmans interview with Phil Emery went eight hours at Halas Hall. NFL.com came up with the nickname The Quarterback Whisperer for his successful associations with that position (Rich Gannon, Jake Plummer, Steve Young).

Trestman, who finished his law degree as a Jimmy Johnson assistant at the University of Miami, has experience with the excellence criterion sought by Emery. He was offensive coordinator with the 2002 Oakland Raiders, which went to the Super Bowl with Gannon as NFL MVP among four Pro Bowlers. He was offensive coordinator with the 1995 San Francisco 49ers when Young, Jerry Rice and the offense were No. 2 in the NFL in scoring.

RELATED: Marc Trestman career timeline

And when Trestman was promoted to offensive coordinator in Cleveland, working with Bernie Kosar, the Browns reached the 1989 AFC Championship game. When he coached Plummer and was Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator in 1998, the Cardinals reached the playoffs for the first time in 51 years, when they were the Chicago Cardinals.

When the NFL stopped calling -- or he decided to stop answering for a while -- Trestman went to North Carolina State as the offensive coordinator for two years and then to the Canadian Football League where he coached the Montreal Alouettes to two Grey Cup championships.

Few coaches on Emerys list had the depth of experiences on offense, most of them positive. And he was one of the few with head-coaching experience, albeit in a league where teams punt on third down.

Trestman has experience working with young college quarterbacks who are vying for a spot in the pros, having worked with Cutler, 2012 Bears backup Jason Campbell and Tim Tebow, among others, in preparation for the NFL Combine. He also spent time in 2007 as a consultant for Saints head coach Sean Payton, who is known as one of the greatest offensive minds in the game today.

RELATED: Trestman hire puts Cutler, Emery on clock

A nagging question is why Trestman has never been in a job longer than three years prior to the stint with Montreal. And he has not been in the NFL game since 2004, going first to colleges for two years and then to the CFL. But if Emery had significant doubts around those issues, best guess is that their conversation would not have gone on for the better part of a full day.

Trestman turned 57 on Tuesday; a call from Emery and the Bears qualifies as a belated birthday gift.

Tony Andracki contributed to this report.

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