Bears offensive line coach Mike Tice was only hired in 2010 and wasn’t around when the team selected Chris Williams in the first round of the 2008 draft, or when Williams became the starting left tackle in 2009. But Tice says he’s seen a lot of Williams, and he likes what he sees.
“The last two weeks of OTAs he really made some strides,” Tice says in an interview with the team’s web site. “There were flashes of very good with Chris. I thought his consistency level picked up and Chris will be who we want him to be.”
Tice said Williams “was definitely better at left tackle” after moving over from the right side, and he said that after watching film of the 2009 season, he thought the Bears’ offensive line was going in the right direction.
“The first thing I did was grade the line as if I was the coach last season,” Tice said. “The one thing that did stand out to me is that they got better as the season went on. A couple of the guys were playing pretty decent football by the end of the season. I think that’s one of the reasons the team finished up pretty good last year. The biggest thing I saw was that they got better.”
Tice says
he’s confident the line he inherited when he was hired in January is going to have a big year.
“The line will perform at a high level because they’ve put the work in,” Tice said. “They had an outstanding offseason.”
He ought to reward the entire line by taking them on a boat trip up Lake Michigan.
I’m sure Bears fans are rushing to the internet to buy Super Bowl tickets, based on what Mike frickin’ Tice has to say. Flashes of ‘pretty good’, indeed.
This is the the thing people need to be talking about with respect to the Bears. Forget Peppers, Cutler, the draft and Unga, it’s the play of the offensive line that will dictate the results of this season for the Bears.
Sounds like Tice is ready to take him for a boat ride.
Don’t let him off the hook!
And if he doesn’t, will Mike refuse to sell him his Superbowl tickets?
Out of the file, stuff that only happens in Minnesota, see additional chapters; Loveboat, Whizzanator, and how to wrap a baby’s head in plasticwrap.
He is who they thought he was?
Well if you want to go ahead and crown there ass then go ahead and crown em’!
Mike Tice and Jim Hasslet are two coaches that do not need to be in the NFL.
The formulas they emplor are designed for complete failure.
He shut Jared Allen down!!!
“There were flashes of very good with Chris”
uhhh, Mike, I think you need to go back to 11th grade grammer class!
and they are who we thought we were..
That bone head Tice is still around?
tice is a good guy. i know him personally. He used to come out to hear my band play a lot here in Jax. Always a great time. He is about 10 feet tall
mike tice sux
Is this along the lines of “they are who we thought they were?”
Williams is the real deal. He dominated Jared Allen last season once he lined up across from him at LT. It’s no coincidence that’s when the line started playing well.
So he reverts to a Denny Greenism? That’s dangerous.
Mike Tice reminds me of the older brother of Raymond from “Everyone Loves Raymond”
Good thing he’s better, because the Pace/Omiyale combo on the left side last year may have been the worst left side of any o-line in the last 5 years.
Here’s hoping he doesnt have 2 good years before his medical issues catch up to him, like all of Angelo’s other injury projects that he drafts.
The offensive line play won’t matter… even if it does get improved that won’t stop Cutler from throwing Interceptions. The offensive line is actually ok the problem is Cutler thinks the defensive backs are his receivers.
Mike Tice is a great line coach, sorry he’s a Bear.
A couple guys were playing pretty decent football by the end of the year. There were flashes of very good. This doesn’t seem like blatant back handed compliments to anyone else? Two guys were playing decent football. The rest of them sucked. Amidst the good flashes was a normalcy of bad.
It all starts in the trenches………. and the O-line will make or break the Bears this year.
On a serious note, I last week I was watching Nfl’s replay of last year’s wk 16 OT matchup with the Queens, and was paying close attention to Williams out of curiosity…He looked damn good, especially considering he had to handle “The Mullet”. I’m sure my strong-bias opinion is influenced, but regardless you can tell he is making strides, But how large they are, is still to be determined.
@ravensrock052052- Did you even watch a Bears game last year? Chicago’s O-line was terrible. They are absolutely the key for the Bears this year, which is depressing to me since I am a Bears fan. Yes, Cutler was not very good, but at least there are reasons to believe he could improve including talent, past success, and the addition of an OC with an imagination. The Bears did add Mike Tice but they did nothing else to help that line. The only way Martz’s system doesn’t help Cutler is if the protection breaks down ( which seems all too likely).