Wednesday, November 19, 2008

You can't perform at the highest level if you have fear

Question: Who's playing in the CFL's title game this Sunday?

One of the coaches in this year's Grey Cup is Marc Trestman, a rookie CFL coach who's guided a team to the finals that went 8-10 last season.

The name "Trestman" might be familiar. He worked as an NFL offensive coach/coordinator for 20 years with the Bucs, Browns, Vikings, Cards, Lions, Niners, Raiders, and Dolphins.

So when he landed his first head coaching job in Montreal last December, a reporter asked Trestman if he was nervous.

"Not one fear," said Trestman, who backed up QB Tony Dungy at the University of Minnesota and, after graduating from college, earned a law degree. "You can't put yourself out there unless you're fearless. That doesn't mean you won't feel (fear) along the way. You'll have your moments, because you're human. You can't perform at the highest level as a player or do anything if you have fear. You can't perform at the highest level as a player or do anything if you have fear."

According to Montreal president Larry Smith, it was Trestman's "depth of people skills" that put him over the top when the club was interviewing coaching candidates:

"What impressed me ... was his great listening skills and values. Those were two things that jumped out at us. He didn't tell us how to run or manage a team. He's humble and asked a lot of questions, and he was well-prepared. He makes an impression when he talks to you. Competing against others, that was important. First impressions are made in the initial 30 seconds."

Trestman's first coaching job came in 1981, while still a law student at the University of Miami. (Says Trestman of his future as a lawyer: "I didn't think I would ever compete against some of the minds that were going to law school, no matter how hard I worked at it. But I worked at it and got through it. I knew early on that I didn't want to be a lawyer. But I didn't want to quit.")

As a 25-year-old volunteer coach on Howard Schnellenberger's Hurricanes staff, "Trestman prepared a three-page outline detailing why he should be allowed to coach freshmen pivots Kosar and Vinny Testaverde." [see photo here]

Two years later, after earning his law degree and passing the Florida bar exam, he was named Miami's QB coach.

"Coaching never crossed my mind for a minute," he said. "I never had a great relationship with my coaches, to my recollection. I always tell coach Schnellenberger he saw something in me I never saw in myself. To hire me as the quarterback coach ... as young as I was. And I really coached them. The quarterback's the center of the game. I was just winging it. I had no experience, no criteria, no mentorship, no training. Nothing. I'm just grateful he saw that in me."

According to Coach Trestman, coaching is more than how guys perform on the field:

"It's not only about how they can play. I want to know what they're all about. That's this game. It's taking a diverse group of people and bringing them together. You can't unless you know what they're about. I'll just be as honest with the players as I can ... as direct as I can."

[Answer: Calgary and Montreal]