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The Falcons have hired Mike Tice as their new offensive line coach, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post:
Mike Tice to Falcons as new offensive line coach, per a league source
— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) January 8, 2014
Tice is a coach with a ton of NFL experience. After spending parts of 14 seasons playing in the NFL, he's coached tight ends, offensive lines and served as an offensive coordinator and head coach in the league. Tice was stretched as a head coach, but he's got a knack for coaxing decent performances out of less-than-stellar position groups at his other stops. He is not a miracle worker, however.
If this report proves to be accurate, Tice will take over as the coach of one of the league's worst offensive lines in 2013, replacing the recently fired Pat Hill. The Falcons are sure to add talent through free agency and/or the draft, but certainly this isn't going to be a cakewalk. He'll hopefully be able to use his seven years of experience as an OL coach in the NFL and get the line playing better.
While I'm sure not everyone's going to be pleased with his track record—those two Bears teams he coached for did not have the best units in the league, after all—I do believe he was one of the better offensive line coaches available. He certainly has a reputation for developing linemen, and lord knows Peter Konz, Lamar Holmes and others could use some development.
You'll want to wait for the team to confirm this before you get too excited and/or incensed, but Wilson's reliable and there has been plenty of noise surrounding Tice as a candidate. I buy it and I like it.
Your thoughts on the possible hiring of Mike Tice?
