With bad contracts and questionable draft picks, the Chicago Bears have a lot of work to do in order to become a competitive football team again, and that process got started on Monday morning as the team fired General Manager Phil Emery and head coach Marc Trestman.
The team said Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey and President and CEO Ted Phillips told Emery and Trestman Monday morning "they will not return as the team's general manager and head coach for the 2015 season."
Emery, who was hired in 2012 by the team, has made some solid moves over that time, including bringing in players like Willie Young and Kyle Long, but has also made some questionable ones. The most controversial one at this point was the signing of quarterback Jay Cutler to a lucrative seven-year contract extension, which hasn't worked out the way the team planned.
"This job was an opportunity of a lifetime. My only regret is that we didn't win enough games for that opportunity to continue," Emery said at a press conference Monday.
As for Trestman, he was Emery's hand-picked choice to lead the team after Lovie Smith was fired after the 2012 season. Trestman went 13-19 in his two seasons with the Bears, and his vaunted offensive system was exposed in a big way during the 2014 campaign as the Bears struggled to put points on the board on a consistent basis.
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“I want to thank Virginia, George and the McCaskey family, Phil Emery and Ted Phillips for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears," Trestman said in a statement. "I also want to thank all the coaches and players who gave us everything we asked over the past two years. I have tremendous respect for this organization. Chicago is a special city with great fans. I appreciate the warm support my family and I received. ”
Emery's departure was initially reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport confirming the news a short time later. Trestman's firing was first reported by Fox Sports' Alex Marvez, with Fox's Jay Glazer also reporting that the head coach was out.
The Bears lost their final game of the season on Sunday to Minnesota Vikings and won just five games all season.
