Michael Peter Tice (born February 2, 1959) is an American football National Football League coach, best known as the former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. He is currently the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.^[1]

Biography[link]

Playing career[link]

Tice attended the University of Maryland, College Park where he played quarterback. He played tight end in the National Football League from 1981 to 1995 with the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings.

Coaching career[link]

Minnesota Vikings[link]

Immediately after his retirement, 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, and then was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. He became the sixth head coach in team history and the first former Viking player to assume the role.

In March 2005, the NFL began to investigate Tice for organizing and profiting from a Super Bowl 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. It was the largest fine ever handed down to a head coach in NFL history until New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 for having a team video assistant film the New York Jets' defensive signals. Tice's fine is still the largest for a head coach who does not also have the title or powers of general manager (Belichick is effectively the Patriots' general manager).

Tice's contract with the Minnesota Vikings was allowed to expire after last game of the 2005 season on January 1, 2006. The Vikings had just defeated the Chicago Bears, but a loss to the Baltimore Ravens eliminated the Vikings from playoff contention and effectively sealed Tice's fate. This was a twist of fate, as Tice's first game as a head coach came against the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, when Spergon Wynn quarterbacked the team to a 19-3 loss. 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.

Jacksonville Jaguars[link]

He was hired as Assistant Head Coach/Offense of Jacksonville by Jack Del Rio, another former Viking.

Chicago Bears[link]

On January 15, 2010, Tice was hired as Offensive Line coach for the Chicago Bears. 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. On September 29, 2010, against the Green Bay Packers, his line held Clay Matthews, who was leading the NFL in sacks at the time, sackless.

On January 6, 2012, the Bears promoted Mike Tice to offensive coordinator, filling the void left by the resignation of Mike Martz.^[2]

Head coaching record[link]

Personal life[link]

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. John was an assistant coach for the Vikings in Mike's tenure. His son, Nate, is a quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers.^[4]

References[link]

Craig Wilson is a columnist for USA Today. He has been a feature writer at the newspaper for over two decades. He has written his The Final Word column each Wednesday since 2000. He is also the author of It's the Little Things: An Appreciation of Life's Simple Pleasures (Random House, ISBN 0-375-75896-8).^[1]

Prior to joining USA Today, Wilson was a columnist for the Saratogian in Saratoga Springs, New York.^[2]

He was an AFS exchange student to Great Britain in 1966.

External links[link]

• Final Word
• Final Word archive
• transcript of chat with Wilson

References[link]

This article about a United States journalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Michael Martz (born May 13, 1951) is a former NFL head coach and offensive coordinator.

Martz is best known as the offensive coordinator behind the St. Louis Rams high-powered 1999 team that won the Super Bowl. As a head coach in the NFL Martz was 56-36 in 5⅓ seasons as the St. Louis Rams head coach. He won two division titles, had four playoff berths including a NFC championship and a trip to Super Bowl XXXVI.

Early career[link]

Martz played tight end at San Diego Mesa College, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Fresno State University and graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in 1972. The following year his coaching career began at Bullard High School in Fresno, California. From 1974 to 1991, he was an assistant coach at seven colleges and universities, including two stints as offensive coordinator at Arizona State University.

NFL coaching career[link]

St. Louis Rams[link]

In 1999, Martz was hired as the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams by Dick Vermeil, who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIV that season. During the season, Martz's number one ranked offense scored 526 points, the fourth highest in NFL history.^[1] Regarding Martz's impact on the season, Vermeil stated, "I can't think, in my history of coaching, of any assistant who came into an NFL franchise and made the immediate impact that Mike Martz did."

Martz was named head coach of the Rams on February 2, 2000, after Dick Vermeil retired (he later changed his mind and coached across the state at Kansas City). He led the Rams to a 10–6 regular season record, but they lost in the 1st round to the New Orleans Saints 31–28.

Head coach[link]

2001 saw the Rams cruise to a 14–2 record (with Martz's signature Greatest Show on Turf offense, behind two-time league MVP Kurt Warner) and the NFC West title. Martz's Rams went on to win the NFC Championship game against the Eagles before losing in Super Bowl XXXVI to New England.

In 2002 the Rams had a see-saw season in which Kurt Warner played injured and committed more turnovers than usual; Marshall Faulk was also not the factor he had been in previous years, although many faulted Martz for his tendency to emphasize the pass too much and not run Faulk more.

In 2003, Marc Bulger's first full year as a starter, the Rams fielded a much-improved defense under defensive coordinator Lovie Smith and led the NFL in forced turnovers, and they posted a 12–4 regular season record and made the playoffs. However, the Rams lost at home in the NFC divisional playoffs to the Carolina Panthers in a game that would have put them in the NFC title game. In that game, the Rams had the ball on the Panthers' 15 yard line with 42 seconds remaining and trailing by 3 points. Rather than go for the win in regulation, Martz made the controversial decision to run out the clock and settle for a game-tying field goal and overtime. The decision proved costly for the Rams as they lost in double overtime.

In 2004, the Rams got off to a slow start and Martz's popularity with the fans began to wane; the "online community" was particularly hostile. Despite the early struggles, a late-season rally combined with a weak NFC conference allowed the Rams to sneak into the playoffs as a wild-card with an 8–8 record. They had to overcome an unusual number of injuries, but still managed to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the first round to become the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game without a winning record. The Rams would go on to lose to the Falcons in the divisional round. The loss of defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, who left for Chicago and took two of his assistants, clearly hurt the team.

On October 10, 2005, Martz took a leave of absence from the Rams to treat a persistent bacterial infection in his heart. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt handled coaching duties as the interim head coach for the rest of the season and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild served as the play-caller. Martz told the Rams that after being examined and evaluated by his treating physician, Dr. Victoria Fraser, that his illness would prevent him from performing his duties. Martz immediately announced he would miss the rest of the season.

Martz allegedly had several conflicts with the St. Louis front office over the years which reportedly came to a climax in 2005. While recovering from his illness at home and watching a live Rams game on television, Martz was blocked by team president John Shaw from relaying a play call to Fairchild by phone. Martz continued to show up periodically at team practices late in the season, and was given medical clearance to coach the Rams' last regular season game on New Year's Day. However, the Rams declined to have Martz coach that game, and fired him on January 2, 2006.

During the seven years in which Martz was involved with the Rams, the team went to two of the franchise's three Super Bowls. His record of 55–5 with a lead any time in the 4th Qtr [91.7 winning %] and 26.5 pts a game as a head coach were the best of all time at the end of 2005 season by any coach in the history of the NFL.

The Rams have had four head coaches and are 27–70 under Joe Vitt, Scott Linehan, Jim Haslett and Steve Spagnuolo since Martz left.

NFL Head Coaching Record[link]

Detroit Lions[link]

Martz interviewed for head coaching vacancies in Oakland and New Orleans. After the interview, he withdrew his candidacy for the position in Oakland. After initially rejecting an offer due to financial considerations, on February 8, 2006, Martz accepted an offer from the Detroit Lions to be their offensive coordinator and their quarterbacks coach.

In 2006, his first season, the passing game improved considerably, ranking 7th overall behind quarterback Jon Kitna, who had his first 4,000-yard season at age 34. Detroit lost its first five games with Martz and finished 3–13 in his first season as coordinator. Though the offense obviously had its woes, Martz wasn't blamed for very much of the team's issues, as the defense was also bad and there were various injury and personnel issues.

In 2007, with expectations still high following the previous year's disaster, it appeared Martz's system was actually beginning to work, and the Lions looked to be playoff contenders, almost in competition with Green Bay for the division title at mid-season when they sat comfortably at 6–2. Though Kitna was still sacked far too much during this span due mostly due to seven step drops and his inability to quickly read defenses, it was still a great improvement from the year before, and sacks aside, Detroit possessed a decent passing game. Shaun McDonald was their leading receiver with nine hundred and forty three yards. However, the team won only one more game that season and finished 7–9. When even players began to complain of Martz's pass-happy and unbalanced offense, the Lions fired him in the offseason.^[2] However, the following season the Lions plummeted in the offensive rankings, and some players (most notably Kitna) were openly frustrated with the conservative play calling that replaced Martz' system as the Lions became the first ever 0-16 team after firing Martz.^[3]

San Francisco 49ers[link]

On January 8, 2008, Martz signed a two-year deal to become the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, who hoped that a fourth offensive coordinator in four years could re-energize the offense (and, most notably, QB Alex Smith's career).^[4]

Smith would injure his shoulder in the preseason, however, and miss the entire 2008 season. Martz lobbied for journeyman J.T. O'Sullivan to come in as his replacement, but O'Sullivan and the 49ers offense struggled in the first half of the season. After 49ers coach Mike Nolan was fired and Mike Singletary was brought in as interim head coach, the team gave Shaun Hill a chance to establish himself as the starting quarterback.

Martz was let go as offensive coordinator after the 49ers named Singletary Head Coach. Singletary reportedly wanted more of a ball-control, run-oriented offense than Martz is known for crafting.^[5] San Francisco ranked 23rd out of 32 teams in points scored, 24th in total yards, 13th in passing yards per game and 22nd in net passing yards per attempt, which represents an improvement over 2007 (when SF ranked dead last in all 3 categories), but they ranked 26th in rushing yards & last in total turnovers. However, in 2007 the 49ers only turned the ball over one fewer time than in 2008 under Martz.

Chicago Bears[link]

On February 1, 2010, Martz was hired by the Chicago Bears as their offensive coordinator.^[6] During his first year in Chicago, the Bears offense was 28th in passing and 22nd in rushing despite having no significant injuries.

Martz was commonly criticized for aggressive play-calling, and the calls for a pass-happy offense led to quarterback Jay Cutler getting repeatedly sacked. The issue caused Cutler to say to Martz "Tell him I said fuck him!" in a game against the Minnesota Vikings in 2011.^[7][8]

On January 3, 2012, Martz resigned his position with the Bears.^[9] He reportedly resigned over philosophical differences with Bears head coach Lovie Smith. Martz's final year was marked by season-ending injuries to quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte. On January 16, 2012, Martz announced his retirement from coaching.^[10][11]

References[link]

External links[link]