Chicago still without coach

CHICAGO (AP) — Longtime NFL assistant and current CFL coach Marc Trestman is denying a rumor that the Chicago Bears are set to hire him.

In an email to the Montreal Gazette on Friday, Trestman said he had not heard from the Bears, who fired coach Lovie Smith after the season.

Earlier, Fox analyst and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson tweeted that it “looks like 2 of my guys getting NFL jobs ... Chud Cleveland and my QB coach at U Trestman to Chicago.”

Nine hours later, Johnson tweeted: “It LOOKS like 2 of my guys were getting NFL jobs not that Trestman got it!”

Trestman, who coaches the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes, interviewed with the Bears this week. He was on Johnson’s staff at Miami in the 1980s.

Westhoff says handling of Tebow was a ‘mess’

NEW YORK — Mike Westhoff, the Jets’ recently retired special teams coordinator, tells a Florida radio station that the way the team handled Tim Tebow was “an absolute mess.”

Westhoff tells WQAM in south Florida on Friday that he was “very, very disappointed” in the Jets’ lack of use of Tebow, the popular backup quarterback acquired last March to be a key part of the offense. Instead, Tebow barely got on the field in most games and never started at quarterback — even after Mark Sanchez was benched.

Westhoff adds that he’s “still waiting for the unveiling” of the game plan that included lots of Tebow. The quarterback tried to hide his frustration throughout the season, but Westhoff says he could see a change in his demeanor and “that swagger that got out of him a little bit.

Cowboys hire Kiffin to replace Ryan

IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys hired former Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin as the replacement for Rob Ryan on Friday.

The team announced the move on its website a day after the 72-year-old Kiffin was at team headquarters to interview with coach Jason Garrett and owner Jerry Jones.

The hiring of Kiffin means the Cowboys will switch back to the 4-3 defense after going to the 3-4 under Bill Parcells in 2005. The most notable switch will be Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware becoming a defensive end, and Anthony Spencer could make the same move if the Cowboys re-sign him.

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