Former Vikings Coach Joins Jim Harbaugh with Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers made one of the biggest coaching decisions of the offseason when they opted to bring in Jim Harbaugh as their next head coach.
Harbaugh, a former Chargers QB, is replacing Brandon Staley, who was fired near the end of the 2023 season. Joining him in Los Angeles is a former Vikings coach and native Minnesotan, Marc Trestman. Trestman, born in Saint Louis Park, has not coached in the NFL since the 2016 season.
Former Vikings Coach Joins Chargers
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the news, tweeting, “Chargers hired former Bears HC Marc Trestman as a Senior Offensive Assistant Coach.”
Trestman began his coaching career with the University of Miami back in 1981, and after four seasons there, he landed his first NFL job with the Minnesota Vikings in 1985 as the team’s running backs coach. That year also proved to be the final season of Bud Grant’s legendary head coaching career in Minnesota, and the Vikings finished with a 7-9 record.
1986 saw Trestman retained on the Vikings’ coaching staff under new head coach Jerry Burns, but after the Vikings went 9-7 and missed out on the playoffs again with a middling rushing attack, the running backs coach opted to head to Tampa Bay in 1987.
However, along with a change in location, he also changed job titles. With the Buccaneers, he held the role of QBs coach, working with an underwhelming group that included Steve DeBerg, a rookie Vinny Testaverde, and Jim Zorn. After a 4-12 season from the Buccaneers, Trestman was on the move again, this time heading to Cleveland as the QBs coach of the Browns.
Trestman would eventually take on the offensive coordinator role in Cleveland for the 1989 season, and the Browns ranked 16th in total yards as well as 14th in total points during that campaign, going 9-6-1 and winning the AFC Central.
Even with the success in Cleveland, Trestman was let go by the Browns following the season, giving him another opportunity to head back home to Minnesota. He was hired for the 1990 season as the Vikings’ QBs coach, and he retained that position for two seasons while Rich Gannon was the starter.
Trestman left the team after the 1991 season and spent three years out of the league before he got the opportunity to become the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers in 1995.
The former Vikings coach has been bouncing around various levels of football ever since. Trestman has spent time with the Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and Baltimore Ravens at the NFL level while also holding various coaching roles in the CFL and XFL as well as the OC job with NC State.
Trestman last coached at the NFL level with the Ravens back in 2016, and he has not coached at any level since the 2020 season when he was head coach of the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers. Now, he heads to Los Angeles to help turn around a franchise that disappointed many with their 5-12 record in 2023. He also joins another former Vikings coach, Ryan Ficken, on the staff.
Editor’s Note: Information for this article was found via Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.