No need for dialing up or texting go-to NFL sources, or sneaking around the facilities to find out whether the Chicago Bears would part ways with Marc Trestman.
Everyone saw this one coming weeks ago. The ouster of general manager Phil Emery might not have been as obvious, but there is no discounting the impact his questionable personnel decisions played in the demise of both men.
Here is a quick list of 15 contributors to Trestman’s firing (and yes, more reasons certainly exist):
1. The locker room: Looking to change up a locker-room culture that was already established by outgoing coach Lovie Smith, Trestman rearranged the lockers -- which in the past were grouped by position -- into a random pattern in an effort to coax players to get to know one another better. The move didn’t result in any pushback from the team, but the coaching staff’s frequent presence in the locker room did rub several players the wrong way.
2. Field goal attempt on second down in loss to Vikings on Dec. 1, 2013: It’s bad enough the Bears allowed a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead to slip away during a 23-20 loss in overtime, but Trestman made matters worse with a questionable decision that likely cost the Bears the game. During the overtime period, Trestman called five consecutive run plays for Matt Forte, who gained 24 yards to set up the Bears with second down at the Minnesota 32 with 4:12 left to play. Trestman then called for a timeout, and after the Vikings called a timeout, Trestman elected to send Robbie Gould on the field for a 47-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide right. Trestman should have called at least one more play to try to move the Bears a little closer for Gould. The Bears finished 8-8, and a 9-7 record would have put them in the playoffs.
3. Bears crushed 54-11 by Eagles on Dec. 22, 2013: In the bowels of Lincoln Financial Field less than an hour prior to kickoff, cheers seeped out of Chicago’s locker room as Detroit fell to the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Green Bay Packers. The Bears just needed to win this game to advance to the postseason, but instead let the Eagles pound them 54-11. Clearly inadequately prepared, the Bears were outrushed 289-61.
4. Passing up points: Chicago converted 13 of 28 fourth-down conversion attempts this season, ranking 17th in the league. They attempted eight more conversions than any other team and converted three more times than any other team. Although all the conversion tries didn’t involve the Bears passing up makeable field goal attempts, Trestman made that call enough times that it was noticeable. Part of the problem was the Bears were 24th in the league in third-down conversions.
5. Pre-snap penalties: The Bears committed a total of 17 pre-snap penalties on offense in 2013, and they committed 28 false starts in 2014, with 27 being accepted. The number committed and number accepted were both the second-highest in the league. Of those 28, five were special teams false starts, which were the most in the league. Such a nosedive speaks to a lack of discipline.
6. Timeouts and clock mismanagement: No need to dig into this one. But the Bears blew too many opportunities with bad clock management, including the aforementioned 2013 field goal attempt in Minnesota. Trestman also admitted after a Nov. 16 win over the Vikings at Soldier Field that he could have done a better job managing the clock before halftime. The Bears, with one timeout, received the ball with 1:05 left at their 26. They called for a run and wasted 40 seconds and then called for another run before calling a timeout. With only 15 seconds left, they finally called for a pass that was intercepted.
7. Captains, or lack thereof: In the past, the Bears elected captains prior to the season. In Trestman’s second year, he decided to name captains on a rotating basis. None of the players complained publicly, but behind the scenes many were miffed by the coach’s decision.
8. Martellus Bennett's training camp suspension: On the surface, suspending Bennett for conduct detrimental to the team after he slammed rookie Kyle Fuller to the ground after a training camp fight was the right thing to do, and it established a level of expectation. But later, the feeling was Trestman administered discipline inconsistently. Had Trestman taken a hard-line stance such as this with all transgressions, perhaps the team would have been more successful, or at least cohesive. Instead, the coach’s inconsistent levying of discipline led to a lack of trust from players inside the locker room.
9. Double Nickel Smokehouse: Sure, it was Labor Day. But you don’t let one of your top defensive players miss the first day of preparation for the season opener to open up a restaurant. But that’s precisely what Trestman did in allowing linebacker Lance Briggs to skip a practice for the opening of his restaurant, the Double Nickel Smokehouse, in Elk Grove, California. None of the players complained publicly, but surely the move couldn’t have gone over well with everyone in the locker room. At the very least, Trestman’s decision to give Briggs the day off created an unnecessary distraction.
10. Offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer's criticism of Jay Cutler: Venting to an NFL Network reporter after a Dec. 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Kromer became an anonymous source for a report in which the club was said to have "buyer’s remorse" regarding quarterback Jay Cutler. Four days after the loss, Kromer apologized to the team and Cutler during a team meeting, admitting he was the anonymous source in the story. Trestman said the matter would be handled "internally," but it appears the offensive coordinator received little more than a slap on the wrist. Again, inconsistent discipline.
11. Fifty points allowed in back-to-back games: Be honest: You had never heard of the Rochester Jeffersons until November, when the Bears brought them into relevance. Chicago became the first team in professional football since the 1923 Jeffersons to give up 50 points in back-to-back outings. Embarrassing.
12. Brandon Marshall: The mercurial receiver called out Cutler in the locker room, according to a source, after an Oct. 19 loss to the Miami Dolphins, and later challenged a Detroit Lions fan to a fight on Twitter. Don’t forget about Marshall’s strange, rambling 45-minute news conference to address allegations of domestic violence from the past, in addition to his admission he understood the organization feeling "buyer’s remorse" regarding Cutler's monstrous contract and lack of production. Trestman also allowed the receiver to do a weekly appearance on Showtime’s "Inside the NFL" in New York, not to mention Marshall signing his contract extension on "The View." It seemed Trestman allowed Marshall to do whatever he wanted, and not everyone in the locker room was on board with it.
13. Benching of Cutler: A week after the Kromer drama, Cutler tossed three interceptions and finished with a passer rating of 55.8 in a 31-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field. So, just 14 games into Cutler’s $126.7 million contract, Trestman made the decision to bench the quarterback. Asked whether general manager Phil Emery was on board with the move, Trestman paused five seconds -- an indication that perhaps the two weren't on the same page. Remember, just a week earlier, Kromer admitted to breaching the trust of the organization and the players, and wasn’t disciplined harshly. Cutler produced a bad game and was benched. Multiple players in the locker room noted the unevenness in how Trestman dealt with Kromer and Cutler, with Gould later coming out on the record to voice complaints about the quarterback’s benching.
14. Players speaking out: This took place on multiple occasions throughout the season, with the most notable being cornerback Tim Jennings, Gould and Marshall on various radio shows. It’s a troubling sign when the players don’t believe in the head coach.
15. Cutler regains starting job: A day after backup Jimmy Clausen put together a fairly solid performance in a loss to Detroit, the team announced he suffered a concussion after experiencing "delayed symptoms," and named Cutler the starter for the season finale. Trestman mentioned that Cutler provided the best chance for winning, but with the Bears sitting at 5-10 at the time, there wasn’t much left to play for. So taking a look at rookie David Fales would have made sense. Besides that, Cutler’s future appears to be murky, and the team could be looking into trading him. So why risk getting Cutler injured in a meaningless game? If Cutler is still on the roster on the third day of the new league year, a $10 million guarantee kicks in for 2016. His 2015 salary of $15.5 million is already fully guaranteed.