| INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Tice has coached only one game in his NFL
head-coaching career, a loss to Baltimore on "Monday Night Football" after he
took over for Dennis Green, who was fired with one game to play in the 2001-02 season. A
former backup tight end and the OL coach for the Vikings under Green, Tice is familiar
with owner Red McCombs and the star players already in place with the Vikings. Tice sat
down to answer questions on the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine. Q: Where
are you in free agency?
A: I’m going to sit on my hands as long as I can. We set our priority with our own
four guys: Kailee Wong, Robert Griffith, Byron Chamberlain and Dale Carter. Now,
we’ll have a contingency plan if one of those guys decide they want to go. I think
Cris Carter has decided he won’t be back, just hasn’t made up his mind which
team he wants to play for. We’d love to have those players come back. But if Byron
Chamberlain feels like he needs Wesley Walls-type money, he isn’t going to get that
here.
Q: Where is the competition going to be the greatest in training camp?
A: Without a doubt, defensive line. We need to play better on the defensive line. If
you have four Pro Bowl secondary people, they are going to get killed if the defensive
line isn’t getting the job done. If you have a good defensive line, you don’t
have to have any Pro Bowl players in the secondary. Also, your linebackers. If your
defensive line isn’t keeping blockers off the linebackers, they are going to get beat
up. Our linebackers, Kailee Wong and Eddie McDaniel, they got beat up last year.
Q: Is Randy Moss a problem?
A: Randy Moss is not a problem. Randy and I speak quite often. We spoke the other day.
Randy knows my style, and my style is up front. I let him know when I’m happy and
when I’m not happy. I did a study — I’m a big study guy — with our
receivers coach. It showed four out of five games when we threw the ball to Randy 40
percent of the time or more, we won the game. The only exception was the Pittsburgh game,
and that came down to the wire. When we throw the ball in Randy’s direction, we win
football games. Randy’s whole thing is frustration. He feels like he can control the
football game. To me, that study proved it.
Q: Does that mean Randy is going to get the ball 40 percent of the time next
season? Are you making that commitment?
A: Yes. Without a doubt. This offense will be directed for Randy.
Q: Will Daunte Culpepper be ready for minicamp?
A: Oh, without a doubt. Daunte is looking great. He has lost some weight, in great
shape. He is a leader on this football team. He wants to be his best.
Q: Is Michael Bennett the type of running back that can handle the 20 or 25
carries on a weekly basis?
A: Michael Bennett is working so hard. We did a study — like I said, I’m a
big study guy — and put together a tape with all of his explosive runs at Wisconsin.
We’re going to adapt to him a little bit and adapt to his style a little bit. Maybe
more two-TE sets and less straight I (formation). You can’t always take a square peg
and force it into a round hole. We’ll change a little bit. I remember Smitty (Robert
Smith) as a rookie. Like Bennett, he had so much natural speed, he wanted to take
everything outside. But that comes with learning the position and learning that in the
NFL, linebackers and safeties can run.
Q: Any thoughts of trying to get Robert Smith out of retirement?
A: Yeah, Robert isn’t coming out of retirement. I already called him — twice.
He is ready to officially put in the retirement papers; he hadn’t done that yet. He
said he is training for a decathlon right now, so that is where he is, not football.
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