BULLITT

Smith rolls dice with Trestman
Als president Larry Smith takes chance on Marc Trestman who has no CFL experience
HERB ZURKOWSKYThe Gazette
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

CREDIT: Allen McInnis-The Gazette, file photoMontreal Alouettes president Larry Smith is taking a chance picking a rookie head coach with no CFL experience in a year the Als will host the Grey Cup and are expected to advance to the championship game says Herb Zurkowsky.Larry Smith will soon depart on his annual winter excursion to Barbados. And when he's there, we wonder whether he'll visit a casino to play 21? Perhaps poker's his game? Or maybe he just prefers slipping a quarter or two into a slot machine?
As the president of the Alouettes, Smith has a nice gig - a decent and well-paying job. He probably considers himself lucky. And, with this week's hiring of Marc Trestman as the team's next head coach, we'll eventually discover how lucky Smith is.
Smith rolled the dice on this one, hiring a rookie head coach with no Canadian Football League experience. That's normally a recipe for disaster, and Smith's in no position to take chances with owner Robert Wetenhall's team. The Alouettes are heading into a season during which Montreal's Olympic Stadium will host the Grey Cup. That means the Als will be expected to advance to the championship game. And the franchise is two years away from adding 5,000 seats to Molson Stadium - tickets that might be hard to sell should this team not succeed.
"People are sitting back and wondering what the Alouettes will do next. That's the buzz around the league," a CFL executive said. "This is a great surprise, because of his lack of CFL experience. There's nothing conventional about the move. They went with their gut feeling, but this surprised a lot of people.
"This could go one of two ways. It could be a home run or they'll strike out. There will be nothing in between. I guess they know what they're doing. You'll have a good time covering them."
An 8-10 record in 2007, third-place finish and opening-round playoff elimination would indicate, at least on the surface, this team's in trouble and could well be in decline. Anthony Calvillo, Montreal's potential starting quarterback, along with Ben Cahoon, its best receiver, are both 35. The offensive-line is getting old and requires improving. There are no players who strike fear into opponents and three coordinators have been lost, virtually guaranteeing a lack of continuity on the coaching staff.
Is this the scenario Trestman should be inheriting? Smith and Wetenhall took a similar gamble a year ago, allowing general manager Jim Popp to continue coaching the team, although he was relatively inexperienced in that role. You saw the results. Popp probably talked his way into the job, and we're not so sure Trestman didn't as well. After all, he's a lawyer, complete with a degree from the prestigious University of Miami. So, if nothing else, he can talk a good game.
There's no problem with the Alouettes thinking outside the box on this one. We applaud them for not recycling Tom Higgins or Steve Buratto. But they could have hired Winnipeg defensive coordinator Greg Marshall. He would have been a first-time head coach, but he has cut his teeth as a CFL assistant since 1994, following a distinguished playing career in Canada. Same with Saskatchewan defensive coordinator Richie Hall.
Buratto, who will probably return to Toronto as offensive coordinator, endorsed the hiring of Trestman. Indeed, as a division rival, Buratto and the Argonauts are probably licking their chops, as are most CFL teams.
"It hasn't been instant success for guys coming to this league from the NFL," Buratto told the Toronto Star. "Even when you move from college to the pros, or vice versa, you have to become familiar with the surroundings. Even if it's the same game, and this isn't, it's a transition."
We hope the Alouettes have a plan, but we're not sure. Smith talked about hiring a young coordinator, while Wetenhall says something else. In the end, the Als went with a guy recommended to them by Popp, which would indicate his time in the penalty box was short.
Does this mean Trestman owes his coaching career to Popp, and will Popp again be calling the shots? Is this the second year of Popp's coaching career, with Trestman serving as the intermediary? And was Wetenhall, an American and former owner of the Boston Patriots, mesmerized by Trestman's NFL pedigree?
"He (Trestman) has bounced around and hasn't had great success recently," a well-known agent said. "He was once considered a young and bright light. But he has fallen off the radar and obviously hasn't been as successful."
Trestman worked under great head coaches and tutored many successful quarterbacks. He was the offensive coordinator in Oakland when the Raiders reached the Super Bowl in 2002. He was an assistant head coach at Miami two years later. Trestman has put in his time and paid his dues.
He even has his own website - coachmarctrestman.com - with a picture of himself and legendary receiver Jerry Rice on the cover page. The two had success with the Raiders, but Rice wasn't disappointed to see Trestman fired as San Francisco's offensive coordinator in 1996.
"I caught a lot of balls, but it was not a fun year for me," Rice said at the time, despite a career-high 108 receptions that season.
Rice didn't enjoy Trestman's philosophy. Trestman used Rice as a possession receiver when he was regarded as one of the NFL's premier deep threats. That resulted in Rice taking a beating running short crossing routes.
"I was very depressed, because we didn't really attack people," Rice said. "I'm not saying anything against Marc Trestman, but it was not enjoyable. That was a nightmare for me."
Fasten your seatbelts, folks. It should be one interesting ride.
hzurkowsky@thegazette.canwest.com