Vikings: Tice shakes up staff, tailbacks

**PurplePharaoh** · 03-23-2005, 06:52 PM

KAPALUA, HAWAII -- Mike Tice never has turned down a chance to laugh at himself; recently, of course, he's had no shortage of opportunities. So in between fielding questions about scalping Super Bowl tickets -- "No comment," he has answered repeatedly here at the NFL's annual meetings -- the Vikings coach has provided daily updates on his latest misstep.

Lounging on a beach Saturday, Tice fell fast asleep. He awoke three hours later to find his stomach, chest and neck singed a deep shade of red. The burn slowly has faded (as Tice demonstrated by pulling up his Tommy Bahama shirt in the quiet hallways of the Ritz-Carlton), an appropriate metaphor as Tice returns his attention to the 2005 season.

Tice again declined comment on the league's continuing ticket investigation Tuesday. But in an otherwise wide-ranging interview, Tice revealed he has reconfigured his defensive coaching staff and declared an open competition for the Vikings' starting tailback job. He suggested the team has transformed from an explosive and young group to a more mature and tougher personality, predicting that his defense finally is ready to carry its share of the load.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/510/5308133.html

**mark** · 03-23-2005, 06:54 PM

Check runningback sit.

**TheFloridianVikingFan** · 03-23-2005, 07:02 PM

"PurplePharaoh" wrote:

KAPALUA, HAWAII -- Mike Tice never has turned down a chance to laugh at himself; recently, of course, he's had no shortage of opportunities. So in between fielding questions about scalping Super Bowl tickets -- "No comment," he has answered repeatedly here at the NFL's annual meetings -- the Vikings coach has provided daily updates on his latest misstep.

Lounging on a beach Saturday, Tice fell fast asleep. He awoke three hours later to find his stomach, chest and neck singed a deep shade of red. The burn slowly has faded (as Tice demonstrated by pulling up his Tommy Bahama shirt in the quiet hallways of the Ritz-Carlton), an appropriate metaphor as Tice returns his attention to the 2005 season.

Tice again declined comment on the league's continuing ticket investigation Tuesday. But in an otherwise wide-ranging interview, Tice revealed he has reconfigured his defensive coaching staff and declared an open competition for the Vikings' starting tailback job. He suggested the team has transformed from an explosive and young group to a more mature and tougher personality, predicting that his defense finally is ready to carry its share of the load.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/510/5308133.html

Thats really good, I really like that decision... wqhoever is best in the offseason and in training camp will get the starting job, i just hope its mewelde moore!