Marc Trestman

Head Coach

2011 - Marc Trestman is entering his fourth season with the Montreal Alouettes after leading the team to an East Division-best 12-6-0 record and a seventh Grey Cup championship in 2010.

He has led the Alouettes to the CFL’s best record over the last three seasons with a 43-17-0 mark (their 15-3-0 record in 2009 was the best in franchise history), three East Division Championships, three Grey Cup appearances and two Grey Cup victories.

Since his arrival, quarterback Anthony Calvillo has completed 1,248 of his 1,748 passes- a completion percentage of 69.6- for 15,111 yards and 101 touchdowns – by far the best totals in the CFL. Calvillo was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player in 2008 and 2009.

Trestman joined the Alouettes the following season and led the team to first place in the East Division title with an 11-7-0 record, a division championship and a Grey Cup appearance en route to being named a Coach of the Year finalist.

In 2007, Jim Popp invited him to serve as a guest coach at training camp. The two had first met when Trestman worked with Jim Popp’s father, Joe, with the Cleveland Browns in 1989.

He began his coaching career in 1981 with the University of Miami while attending law school there. In 1983, after passing the Florida Bar exam, he was named the Hurricanes’ quarterbacks coach and Miami won the National Championship that year, defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 31-30 in the Orange Bowl.

In 1985, Kosar was selected in the first round on the NFL entry draft by the Cleveland Browns. That same year, legendary NFL head coach Bud Grant came out of retirement and hired Trestman to his first job in the National Football League with the Minnesota Vikings. Four years later, Trestman was named the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, reuniting him with Kosar.

In 1995, he was hired by George Seifert as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In Trestman’s first season with the then-defending Super Bowl champions, the 49ers ranked first in the NFL with 457 points for, 644 pass attempts and 4,779 passing yards. They also ranked second with 391.1 total yards per game, while legendary receiver Jerry Rice set an NFL record with 1,848 yards on 122 catches, scoring 15 touchdowns along the way. Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young made the Pro Bowl after throwing for 3,200 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Bobby Ross hired Trestman to be the Detroit Lions quarterbacks coach in 1997. With Scott Mitchell at quarterback, the Lions passed for 3,484 yards that season, good for second most in team history. Tailback Barry Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards, the third-highest total in NFL history.

In 1998, Trestman left the Lions to become the offensive coordinator in Arizona. The Cardinals, who had averaged five wins a year the previous decade, won nine games and scored 325 points that season.

In 2001, Jon Gruden brought Trestman back to California as a senior offensive assistant with the Oakland Raiders. Gruden left for Tampa Bay in 2002, and the Raiders’ new head man, Bill Callahan, promoted Trestman to offensive coordinator.

The 2002 Raiders led the NFL in total offence with 389.8 yards per game and 279.7 passing yards per encounter. Quarterback Rich Gannon was good on 418 of his 618 passes for a completion rate of 67.6 per cent that season while registering 10 games of 300 or more passing yards, and at one point completing 21 consecutive passes in a game.

Including the Raiders’ first Super Bowl appearance in 20 years, Trestman had then been a coordinator with four different playoff teams in his first season with each club.

Trestman left the NFL in 2004 to move his family to Raleigh, NC, to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Carolina State University.

During the offseason, Trestman has spent time preparing college seniors like Jason Campbell, Jay Cutler, Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen and many others for the NFL Combine and draft. He also spent time as a consultant to the New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton during the 2007 season.

Trestman also does leadership speaking to various groups and organizations. He is also the author of a poignant, yet heart-warming, motivational-biography titled Perseverance: Life Lessons on Leadership and Teamwork.