Michael Peter Tice (born February 2, 1959) is an American former professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and coach in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played in the NFL as a
tight end
The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
. Tice played
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the
Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...
and played 11 seasons in the NFL before spending 22 seasons as a coach, including four seasons as the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
head coach.
Playing career
Tice attended the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...
, where he played
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
for the
Terrapins. He played
tight end
The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) from 1981 to 1995 with the
Seattle Seahawks,
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
and
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
.
Tice was inducted into the
Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
in the Coaches and Football Categories with the Class of 2013.
Coaching career
Minnesota Vikings
Immediately after his retirement from playing, Tice joined the Vikings' coaching staff, serving first as tight ends coach (1996) and
offensive line coach (1997–2001). Tice took over head coaching duties on an interim basis for the final game of the
2001 season, replacing
Dennis Green. On January 10, 2002, Tice was named the
6th head coach in franchise history, Bud Grant having been both 2nd and 4th. He was the first former Viking player to assume the role.
In 2002, the Vikings led the NFL in rushing for the first time in team history, and in 2003, they led the league in total offense for the first time. A season later, the Vikings broke team records with 6,339 total yards and 4,754 passing yards and scored 50 touchdowns.
In March 2005, the NFL began to investigate Tice for organizing and profiting from a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
ticket scalping operation within the Vikings organization. He later admitted that these charges were true and the NFL fined him $100,000 on June 30, 2005. At the time, it was the largest fine ever handed down to a head coach in NFL history, and is still the largest for a head coach who does not also have the title or powers of general manager.
Tice was also the head coach during the
Minnesota Vikings boat party scandal which occurred in October 2005. Some commentators believe that this incident led to his demise in Minnesota.
Tice's contract with the Minnesota Vikings was allowed to expire after the last game of the 2005 season on January 1, 2006. The Vikings had just defeated the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
, but a loss to the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
eliminated the Vikings from playoff contention and effectively sealed Tice's fate. During his tenure of more than four years as the Vikings head coach, he had a regular season record of 32–33–0, while going 1–1 in the playoffs. Also during his tenure, the Vikings recorded an NFL record for the most consecutive games with over 300 yards of offense with 36.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Tice was hired as assistant head coach/offense of Jacksonville by
Jack Del Rio, another former Viking.
Chicago Bears
On January 15, 2010, Tice was hired as offensive line coach for the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
. On October 3, 2010, his offensive line allowed 9 sacks in one half to the New York Giants. On September 17, 2010, against the Cowboys, his line only gave up one sack and held
DeMarcus Ware, one of the leading sackers since he came into the NFL, sackless. Despite this, the Bears allowed 105 sacks in his two years as offensive line coach.
On January 6, 2012, the Bears promoted Tice to offensive coordinator, filling the void left by the resignation of
Mike Martz
Michael Martz (born May 13, 1951) is an American American football, football coach. Best known for his coaching tenure with the History of the St. Louis Rams, St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL), he served as the offensive coor ...
.
On January 16, 2013, the Bears hired
Marc Trestman to be the Bears new head coach after
Lovie Smith was fired. It was also announced that the Bears had hired
Aaron Kromer to replace Tice as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Tice was dismissed by the Bears on January 17, 2013.
Atlanta Falcons
Tice was hired to be the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
offensive line coach in January 2014.
Oakland Raiders
Tice was hired to be the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...
offensive line coach in January 2015. On February 6, 2018, Tice announced that he was retiring from coaching. He said that he was ready to move on from the coaching ranks because "players today don't want to be coached."
Head coaching record
Personal life
Mike Tice is the older brother of
John Tice, also a former tight end at the University of Maryland, who played ten seasons in the NFL with the
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...
. John was an assistant coach for the Vikings in Mike's tenure. His son, Nate, was a quarterback for the
Wisconsin Badgers
The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...
and became an NFL writer and podcaster after working in the back office for NFL teams. During Mike's time with Seattle, his teammates referred to his eating style as "Mike Tice's Lunchout" in a humorous parody of the then popular video game, ''Mike Tyson's
Punch-Out!!
is a boxing video game series created by Genyo Takeda, and published by Nintendo. The player controls Little Mac, a boxer who aims to become the World Video Boxing Association (W.V.B.A.) champion.
The original '' Punch-Out!!'' arcade game w ...
''
[Sheff, David. "Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World. Vintage, 1994. P 312. .] Tice currently lives in the Las Vegas area with his wife, Diane.
References
External links
Chicago Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tice, Mike
1959 births
Living people
American football tight ends
American football quarterbacks
Atlanta Falcons coaches
Chicago Bears coaches
Jacksonville Jaguars coaches
Maryland Terrapins football players
Minnesota Vikings players
Minnesota Vikings coaches
Minnesota Vikings head coaches
Oakland Raiders coaches
Seattle Seahawks players
Washington Redskins players
NFL offensive coordinators
People from Bay Shore, New York
People from Central Islip, New York
Players of American football from Islip (town), New York