NFL Coaches: Trestman, Kelly find NFL homes

CHICAGO (AP) — The Bears hired Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman on Wednesday to replace the fired Lovie Smith, hoping he can get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler and make Chicago a playoff team on a consistent basis.

It's the first head coaching job in the NFL for Trestman, a long-time assistant in the league who spent the past five seasons coaching the CFL's Alouettes and led them to two Grey Cup titles.

Trestman, who played football at Minnesota State-Moorhead, was an offensive coordinator with Cleveland, San Francisco, Arizona and Oakland.

Chicago general manager Phil Emery cast a wide net in his search, meeting with at least 13 candidates. Besides Trestman, he also brought back Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and the Indianapolis Colts’ Bruce Arians for second interviews.

Smith was let go after nine years, ending a run that included a trip to the Super Bowl but also saw Chicago miss the playoffs five out of the past six seasons.

The Bears, who have scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m., are turning to the 57-year-old Trestman in part because of his background with quarterbacks.

He worked with Bernie Kosar as an assistant at the University of Miami and again when he was on the Browns’ staff in the 1980s.

Trestman helped the Raiders reach the Super Bowl at the end of the 2002 season with an offense he geared for QB Rich Gannon, the league's MVP that year.

Eagles hire Oregon’s Kelly

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles hired Chip Kelly after he originally chose to stay at Oregon.

Kelly becomes the 21st coach in team history and replaces Andy Reid, who was fired on Dec. 31 after a 4-12 season.

Kelly, who was 46-7 in four years at Oregon, interviewed with the Eagles, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills after leading the Ducks to a victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

But he opted to remain at Oregon before changing his mind.

The Eagles are known to have interviewed 11 candidates, including two meetings with Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

Philadelphia has won just 12 games the two seasons, after winning the NFC East in 2010.

Oregon has scheduled a press conference this afternoon to discuss “news,” as it moves past the Kelly era.

Following the Fiesta Bowl, the 49-year-old Kelly said he wanted to get the interview process over “quickly.” Turns out, it was anything but.

He came close to jumping to the pros last year but turned down an offer from Tampa Bay to return for his fourth season as coach at Oregon, where he is 46-7. He has boosted the school's national profile — flashy uniforms helped — with a high-powered offense capable of turning any game into a track meet.

Kelly doesn't have any pro coaching experience, but aspects of his up-tempo offense are already being used by some NFL teams, including New England and Washington.

Kelly never said if he was leaning one way or another following the bowl.

“I said I'll always listen, and that's what I'll do,” he said. “I know that people want to talk to me because of our players. The success of our football program has always been about our guys. It's an honor for someone to say they'd want to talk to me about maybe moving on to go coach in the National Football League. But it's because of what those guys do. I'll listen, and we'll see.”

Oregon could be facing possible NCAA sanctions for the school's use of recruiting services, but Kelly indicated in Arizona that he isn't running from anything.

“We've cooperated fully with them,” he said. “If they want to talk to us again, we'll continue to cooperate fully. I feel confident in the situation.”

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