Wilf says "No Tice"

Mike Tice is no longer the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Zygi Wilf didn't handle his decision to change the coaching personnel well at all. To be honest, he bungled this thing completely, alienating the Vikings players by not telling them that their leader had been canned mere minutes after the Vikings beat Chicago convincingly in the last regular season game. The players learned that Tice was fired from the media, not from the owner as is customary. Tice wasn't perfect as a head coach, and there were plenty of missteps and scandals this year. But the public image problems were largely the fault of players, not the coach. Tice was a leader, a damn fine leader, and he wasn't a babysitter, despite Wilf's apparent conclusion to the contrary. The fact that Wilf handled this firing so poorly undercuts his image as a decent owner, and it already is damaging his standing with Minnesota Vikings fans.

Should Tice have been given another year? Let's put it this way. The Vikings had a slow start this season, but won 7 of their last 9 games. Surely, Mike Tice had a hand in building that momentum. A vote of confidence would have been nice. Regardless, Tice is history.

There is always next year to resurrect the Minnesota Moving Company, but the cohesive foundation built by Tice in the locker room is dead. Thanks, Wilf. You may own the team, but you don't know shit about public relations, you do not own the spirit of the Purple Pride, and you will never be a Minnesota Viking.