Hi. My name is Mike Tice, and I'm a former Viking.
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jun 10, 2010 11:00 AM CDT
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When the Bears hired Mike Tice on January 15, a lot of Bears fans had to get over some of their built up angst towards the man for his time spent as a Viking. Despising the big lug with a pencil behind his ear came naturally to most Bears fans. He was head coach of the hated Vikings for 4 years (splitting games every year against Chicago), he played for them for parts of 3 years, and he was an assistant coach for them for 6 years. He also came across as a big lug, he had that stupid pencil behind his ear, and don't forget he was the coach during the ticket scalping incident and the Minnesota Boat Scandal. OK, that last one there is still pretty funny. What were those idiot Viking players thinking... Everybody sing along now... The Looove Boooaaat...
But now... Now he's our big lug. Now that pencil is a nice little quirk that adds character to the man. Now it's great to have an assistant coach with his resume. That ticket and boat thing, who doesn't have a few skeletons in their past, and besides it's not like the Bears hired a tool like Forrest Gregg.
The last four years Tice was in Jacksonville working as their assistant head coach, and the last three years he coached their tight ends. Coaching the offensive line is his passion and he had a handshake deal in place with Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio that if an offensive line coaching opportunity were to arise, he'd allow him to move on. I'm sure even the most staunch Viking hater has to realize he's a hell of an offensive line coach and the Bears are lucky to have him.
From the Bears official site;
As an offensive line coach, Tice tutored five different players - Matt Birk, Jeff Christy, Randall McDaniel, Todd Steussie and Korey Stringer - to 10 Pro Bowl appearances. In 1998, when the Vikings scored an NFL-record 556 points, three Minnesota offensive linemen started in the Pro Bowl.
Christy's Pro Bowl birth came in his 6th NFL season, Steussie's in his 4th, and Stringer's in his 6th. Point being he helped mold 3 players that were established in the NFL (just not at a high level) and gave them an edge to boost them to the Pro Bowl level. I'm excited to see what he'll do with the Bears line.
Obviously his forte is helping a team rush the ball better, but his experience leads me to believe he has a good knowledge of offensive football. In college at Maryland Tice played quarterback, he converted to tight end in the NFL, and as an assistant coach in the NFL he's worked with tight ends and most often with the offensive line.
I hope if there are still some Bears fans holding a Viking grudge against the man, they'll let it go. After all Bulls fans learned to love Dennis Rodman. White Sox fans came to adore A.J. Pierzynski. Blackhawk fans adamantly rooted for Bob Probert, and Cub fans cheered for... well, they'll cheer for anybody.... I kid!
This is actually the 3rd part in a coaches spotlight series we are running here at WCG (part 1 Darryl Drake & part 2 Dave Toub), in an effort to get to know the men behind the players a little better.
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and don’t forget he was the coach during the ticket scalping incident and the Minnesota Boat Scandal.
Wasn’t he the HC when Onterrio Smith got busted with the whizzinator?
by boondock_saint812 on Jun 10, 2010 11:14 AM CDT reply actions
now you're just piling on!
"When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." ~ Dick Butkus
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jun 10, 2010 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions
I was excited about what he could do with our O-line
and could care less about his former affiliation with the Vikings. Did anybody really have “built up angst” about Tice here?
by PolishSausage.Ditka.Bears. on Jun 10, 2010 1:35 PM CDT reply actions
Importing anything that used to be a part of a rival,
especially a former HC, undoubtedly made a few folks cringe. Luckily, his time between the Vikes and us was padded by a stint in Jax.
I've read some comments here on WCG and other places
that tell me some people don’t like the guy from his Viking days.
"When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anyone deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something." ~ Dick Butkus
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Jun 10, 2010 2:02 PM CDT up reply actions
I understand he was part of a rival
but if he gets our O-line to start playing the way we need them to, I guarantee we won’t be hearing any of those complaints.
by PolishSausage.Ditka.Bears. on Jun 10, 2010 2:06 PM CDT up reply actions
Not me.
It was like Rodman joining the Bulls in the 90s for me. If it benefited the team, then so be it.
I got the feeling that fans were upset because there wasn’t any “new & exciting” options being looked at during that HORRIBLE coaching search process. People thought the “banana in the tailpipe” was coming from Halas Hall and Tice was going to be considered for the OC position.
That whole search was bad news.
Semper Fi
by ChicagoMarine on Jun 10, 2010 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions
my angst was quite minimal to non-existent
Now, if Smith were to be handed a pink slip and Tice was the HC frontrunner, then my angst would fester.
"Do or do not... there is no try." - Yoda
I liked the signing of Tice as Offensive Line Coach
Ever since I started commenting and blogging on Chicago Bears football, my whole premise has been that I never thought the Bears understood the value of coaches with expertise and experience (not one or the other; both) that not only bring credibility to the locker room, but also practical insight .
Ron Rivera was a perfect example of a coach that had expertise in multiple defensive philosphies as an assistant (worked with Jim Johnson) and as a player (played under Ditka and Buddy Ryan). I thought combining his football insight with C2 Lovie Smith was an ideal situation, but in the end egos and the Bears unwillingness (early on) to look outside of their own box prohibited them to see the value of having a Chico Rivera on staff.
I like TIce, Martz and Marrinelli as positional coaches, because hey have excelled at the respective positions in some way shape or form. I dislike hires/promotions of friends who have limited experience and/or success at a team position, yet are put in charge… *cough*Bob Babich*cough*!
That includes “friends of the family” too. *cough*Ron Turner*cough*!
Semper Fi
He never really bother me when he was the Coach of the Vikings.
by Dominique Blanton on Jun 10, 2010 8:06 PM CDT reply actions
I have zero animosity towards him as well
He’s now on the Bears. What’s in the past stays in the past.
"Is there any truth to the rumor that the Bears gave up their first-round pick in 2011 for the decals?" - Someone registered as the DailyNorseman at PFT suggesting the Bears gave up picks in order to get Gaines Adams tribute decals. Stay classy Minnesota fans!
Full of great one-liners
besides it’s not like the Bears hired a tool like Forrest Gregg
Packers were pretty bad under his tutelage during the eighties.
Cub fans cheered for… well, they’ll cheer for anybody….
Me no likey. I know you were kidding, but there’s no kidding the horribleness that is the Cubs. They gave up three runs today on routine plays.
Tice brings toughness and experience to a much-maligned group. They’ll most certainly be better, but the question is how much? The hope is they’ll give enough time and room for Jay to make plays, and also open up holes for the running game.
"Is there any truth to the rumor that the Bears gave up their first-round pick in 2011 for the decals?" - Someone registered as the DailyNorseman at PFT suggesting the Bears gave up picks in order to get Gaines Adams tribute decals. Stay classy Minnesota fans!
seeing forrest gregg's name
made me want to spit out my drink. in disgust. he is a true pos in every sense of the phrase. i never hated tice when he headed up the queens or anything, just seemed a bit lost in press conferences (especially when dealing with questions about his players’ off-field antics). i am excited to see what he can do with the o-line….a whole lot more than i was a year ago when marinelli was hired.
by reefermadness3 on Jun 11, 2010 12:58 AM CDT reply actions
mike tice
I think he’ll really help out the OL this year. Would have liked to have seen more OL drafted this year so this guy could have more talent to work with, but I like the young guys currently there and I think he’ll make a big difference, especially in the 2nd half of games.
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