Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on December 30, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The rumors have swirled for much of the latter half of this season about the tenuous future of offensive coordinator Mike Martz in Chicago.

On two occasions recently, head coach Lovie Smith has refused to publicly support Martz. If Martz leaves, who will be the next Bears OC?

The most logical replacement from a continuity perspective is offensive line coach Mike Tice.

Continuity is important; this will be quarterback Jay Cutler‘s fifth OC over the past five seasons. Tice, while bringing a slightly different perspective, is at least familiar to Jay.

The downside to having Tice as the Bears’ coordinator is that he has never filled that role before. Of course, he has been a line coach and even a head coach in the NFL, so I am not suggesting that he cannot do it.

After all, the Bears seem to like hiring coaches who have no experience in the league or at that position. Sometimes it has worked out—Rod Marinelli—and sometimes it has not—John Shoop.

So, what kind of a coordinator would Tice be?

Well, we do know that he was a tight end in the league for 14 years, and would probably utilize the position more than Martz has used it as an offensive weapon.

That is not to say that Tice doesn’t prefer maximum protection—he does believe in leaving a tight end in to chip—but he also will use them as outlet receivers.

Tice also likes a more balanced attack, and prefers the run game much more than Martz. In fact, when he coached the Vikings, they ran the ball a lot.

Meanwhile, guess who Tice’s top receiver was in half of the seasons he coached? A tight end, of course.

Tice also seems to be on the same page with Cutler in terms of shorter drops, as opposed to the five and seven step drops that Martz prefers.

So, while we can expect more liberal use of the tight end as an offensive weapon, a more balanced offense and better protection, there are also similarities between Tice and Martz.

After all, both have roots in the Don Coryell system. Tice learned this when he played for Joe Gibbs.

But don’t expect Tice to feature a West Coast offense that many Bears fans have been clamoring for. Tice doesn’t like the shorter passing routes associated with the West Coast.

He does, however, like to throw the ball downfield on occasion, something that will stretch the defense and utilize Cutler’s powerful arm.

I’m also thinking that the transition to Tice might be easier than bringing in a brand new coordinator; Tice could use some of the same terminology as Martz, lessening the learning curve for Cutler.

Regardless of what happens, it is clear that Martz’s system simply isn’t a match for the personnel on this Bears team.

Tice is his most logical replacement.

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