A league source tells the National Football Post that Marc Trestman of the CFL's Montreal Allouettes is a "strong candidate" to be the Raiders' next head coach.
Trestman has extensive NFL experience on the assistant level and has been linked to the Raiders before. He also coordinated Oakland's offense in 2002, leading the unit to a No. 1 overall ranking. Trestman, however, is signed with Montreal through 2012, and it's unclear if he'd break that contract. Jan. 8 - 2:14 pm et
It didn’t sound as if the pundit or the news crew at NFL Network were much apprised with Trestman’s current situation. It seems to me as if they threw his name out there for his 2002 success as Oakland’s OC without so much as knowing he’s under contract with Montreal until 2012.
If Trestman has a change of heart the Als will let him go. No organization wants to be labelled as career limiting. I doubt this is the case anyhow.
Marc stated publicly that he has never had as much fun in 30 years working as a pro coach as he has in his two years in Montreal. He's not going to leave one of the best coaching jobs in pro football for one of the worse.
I'd hate to see him leave the CFL but if he was offered the Oakland job, I'm sure he'd want to go. The difference in salaries between a HC in the NFL and a HC in the CFL is huge. He'd be insane to not go if it was offered regardless of which NFL team it was with. I'm sure Montreal wouldn't hold him back either.
The salary of a CFL head coach isn't exactly chump change. Would Marc Trestman want to leave the comfort of Montreal, where he is most likely the highest paid coach in the league, with good job security to go coach the sad sack raiders maybe for a few hundred thousand dollars extra? I wouldn't take the risk, the Oakland Raiders are career killers. Think of it this way, if he is unsuccessful he will most likely be fired after his first year. Would you rather make 1 million dollars for one year of work, or 500, 000 dollars a year over the course of 5 years. The latter is much safer, and that's what I would choose if I was Marc.
With all the talk last year about him going to the NFL…why would he sign an extension? He signed that contract before the 2009 season started. Its easier to get out of a 1 year contract than a 3 year. Why not playout his last year and see what happens?
Why?
Because IMO he is not interested.
As HfxTC stated, Trestman has said that in 30 years of football, he has never enjoyed getting up in the morning and going to work like he has the last 2 years with the Als. That plus in the CFL, the offseason is the offseason. He gets to spend 6 months at home with his family. He also stated that one of the get things about the CFL is that he gets to drive is daughters to school. Something he cant do in the NFL. His work with the team during the off season is done by phone and email
Bottom line…
There comes a time in life when there are things more important than money
You may be right. On the other hand, all this supposed NFL interest was never more than unsubstantiated speculation. Maybe he wasn't as hot a commodity in the NFL's eyes as the media would have us believe. He chose the bird in the hand.....
I can't imagine why Marc Trestman would want to work as a HC for Al Davis. Especially after his good situation in Montreal.
Maybe the money would be the thing.....but if there is that kind of interest in Trestman as a HC in the NFL surely there will be a better situation than Oakland.
I hope he stays in Montreal but it looks like the writing is on the wall.