Thread: Don't Think Tice It's Alright..........My Apologies to Bob Dylan...........

Actually my feelings run just the opposite of this thread's title. I do think Mike Tice should be given ever consideration for the Bears OC post.

The one thing that has continually come up regarding the possibility of firing Martz was that it would impose yet another OC and another offensive system for him to learn. Well we now know that even before Lovie met with Martz he got a visit from Jay Cutler who when asked whether or not Martz should be fired said, "Hell yes, fire that fucker....twice, once from you and the other from me", or words to that effect.

IMO the best way to retain some continuity is to promote Tice to the OC/Oline coach and then try like hell to get Jeremy Bates to take a position as Asst OC/QB coach and take over the play calling duties for Jay just like he did in Denver when Cutler made the Pro-Bowl team.

I doubt there is anyone else on the list of potential candidates who is more acutely aware of the Bears offensive personnel deficiencies than Mike Tice. Outside of Jay Cutler he's the one still on the team closest to observing how the Bears offense works and why it doesn't given the personnel on hand. He's an advocate of a strong running game yet he still throws deep when he has a go up and get it guy and he's also not afraid to use his TE's in the passing game since he was one himself.

Jeremy Bates turned the Bears down two years ago reportedly because he didn't feel comfortable working for Angelo and chose to work for Pete Carroll in Seattle. He was fired after one year and now that Angelo is gone he should be extended another invitation to interview. Since Bates has an established relationship with Cutler already this should also help ease the transition away from Martz.

Granted this creates a more complicated structure than just having one OC who runs the show and calls plays but if we don't consider Tice in all likelihood we'll lose him to an OC post with another team after his current deal is up. I'm just thinking a little out of the box style here. Tice knows what his line is capable of relative to a run based attack and how well they can hold up pass blocking. He'll most certainly put a stop to the frequent 7 step drops and complex pass patterns Martz featured and use his TE's more effectively in the passing game.

Jeremy Bates knows how to maximize Jay Cutler's talents and abilities in the passing game and I doubt Jay would have the problems working with him that he suffered with under Martz. Jay Cutler was seen as the next John Elway here in Denver before Shanahan was fired. Shanny and Bates saw a QB with an arm like Elway's and that same ability to use his feet to buy time and complete passes even when throwing from awkward positions. I think the Tice/Bates combo will embrace that and let Jay be Jay in a way Martz was unwilling to do until Cutler practically forced it one him.

If Jay Cutler would like to see Jeremy Bates come to Chicago then I'd suggest Lovie let him approach Bates about the position himself. Having turned the opportunity to interview once before Lovie may be lax to contact him again unless Cutler makes a push for him. I don't know if this is the right way to go or not but it sure seems to me to be one of the easier ways to make a transition from what we were doing to what we need to do.

I think Tice would be the perfect man for the coordinator's position. He is so valuable to this team. He basically made the Bears offensive line palpable at times when the talent just simply wasn't there, and that speaks volumes about his coaching. I like your idea, soul, of promoting him and then perhaps bringing in Jeremy Bates to be co-coordinator - with Tice working the offensive line and Bates doing the quarterbacks. I think that would be a stroke of genius on the part of Lovie Smith.

Tom Waddle asked John Clayton who he thought the Bears might look to and he thinks it will be Tice as well. If the Bears are interested in cohesion then Tice represents a guy who can take over with as little disruption as possible. He certainly knows the offensive players and their capabilities and Clayton seemed to feel that he's been around long enough to have gotten a good feel for game planning and play calling as well.

Despite that I'd still like to see if they could entice Jeremy Bates to come on board as Asst. OC and to work with Cutler and the passing game. Even with Tice as OC we'll still need a QB coach and Cutler and Bates have a positive history together. It would be nice if Lovie made his mind up on this quickly so they can figure out who they want to target to fill those major holes we have on that side of the ball.