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Real Reason Behind Mike Tice's Extension?

BOURBONNAIS IL - JULY 30: Offensive line coach Mike Tice of the Chicago Bears walks out for a summer training camp practice at Olivet Nazarene University on July 30 2010 in Bourbonnais Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
BOURBONNAIS IL - JULY 30: Offensive line coach Mike Tice of the Chicago Bears walks out for a summer training camp practice at Olivet Nazarene University on July 30 2010 in Bourbonnais Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
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Typically, I try to stay away from gossip and hearsay, but I am a sucker for a good conspiracy theory. The one part of Mike Tice's story that did stand out is the fact that Lovie Smith denied the Tennessee Titans an opportunity to speak to Tice about their open offensive coordinator position.  There is a general unwritten rule that you allow your own coaches to interview with other teams if the job is for a position higher up the ladder.  Coach Smith until now has always stuck to the rule, that is until Mike Tice.  So, why would he start now.   If you buy this opinion it is all because of Offensive Coach Mike Martz.

Here’s why: If Mike Martz still thinks the Bears can run his offense with a 4-1 pass-run ratio and in fact he insists on calling it that way, then the Bears might all of a sudden need Tice as their own offensive coordinator after, say, Game 3, if not before.

Shortly after the Bears lost a home playoff game to the Packers, I wrote that Smith should whack Martz because he can’t be trusted. He spent the first two months of the season forcing his offense on a team ill-equipped to run it. He refused to coach the team that was there -- the one intent on murdering Jay Cutler. He also insisted on naming a cadaver as his No. 2 quarterback.

Only after Smith or maybe even Tice lobotomized decade-old thoughts from Martz’s head -- or flat threatened him with immediate dismissal --  did the titular offensive coordinator begin to call games with a balanced attack, which coincided with the Bears’ winning.

Now this is obviously one man's opinion, but the numbers do add up and we are talking about Mike Martz here, whose offense has threatened the health of starting QBs before.

What's your take?