Bears promote Tice

The Bears have named Mike Tice as their new offensive coordinator, the team announced Friday morning.

Tice has spent the past two years as the team's offensive line coach. Although he never has served as an offensive coordinator, he has 15 years of NFL coaching experience and was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2001-05.

Tice will replace Mike Martz, who was not asked to return after his contract expired at the end of the season. Martz was hired along with Tice before the start of the 2010 season.

The Bears will hire an offensive line coach to replace Tice and a quarterbacks coach to replace Shane Day, who departed along with Martz earlier this week. However, Tice will continue to work closely with the offensive line in the same way that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli works closely with the defensive line.

By promoting Tice, the Bears will be able to maintain some continuity with the offense and avoid a drastic overhaul of the system. Tice's players on the offensive line have praised him for his work with the group, and he favors a run-first offense much like head coach Lovie Smith.

-Tom Musick