From the courtroom to the gridiron: the dual career of coach Marc Trestman
In short: Marc Trestman is a rare figure who balances high-stakes professional football with a background in legal practice. Beyond his extensive resume as an NFL and CFL head coach, he has integrated his expertise in law and leadership into academia, teaching courses and hosting podcasts on the mechanics of team success.
Born in Minneapolis in 1956, Trestman followed an unconventional path into coaching. While playing college football as a quarterback, he simultaneously pursued his legal education, earning a Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law. He gained admission to the Florida Bar in 1982, yet his professional trajectory quickly pivoted toward the sidelines. He began his coaching tenure as a volunteer assistant at the University of Miami, eventually serving as the quarterbacks coach during the team's 1983 national championship season.
Trestman’s career is defined by his versatility across leagues. In the NFL, he held various roles, including offensive coordinator and head coach for the Chicago Bears. However, he achieved his most notable success in the Canadian Football League. As head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, he secured consecutive Grey Cup titles in 2009 and 2010, earning CFL Coach of the Year honors in 2009. He later added a third Grey Cup victory with the Toronto Argonauts in 2017, again receiving the league's top coaching award.
In recent years, Trestman has returned to his academic roots. Since 2015, he has served on the advisory board for the University of Miami’s Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Graduate Program. In 2020, he developed and co-taught a leadership course titled A Playbook for Leadership and the Law. Through his podcast, The Leadership Gameplan, he continues to analyze leadership dynamics by interviewing figures from sports, business, and law, demonstrating that the strategies used to manage a professional football team often mirror the principles required to navigate the legal profession.
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