Mike Tice is in his fourth season with the Jaguars as assistant head coach, and his third season overseeing the tight ends. Tice joined the Jaguars on February 1, 2006 after spending 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings as a player and coach.

Tice, 50, has 28 years of experience in the NFL with 14 as a player and 14 in the coaching ranks. He has participated in 22 postseason games, including 13 as a coach and nine as a player. He previously served as head coach of the Vikings from 2002-05. The Vikings posted a winning record in three of four seasons under Tice including a playoff berth in 2004.

Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis has developed into a major threat in the passing game, finishing with a career-high 41 receptions for 489 yards and two touchdowns in 2008. Lewis was the first Jaguars tight end since Kyle Brady (43, 2002) to have 40-plus receptions in a season and he had the most receiving yards by a Jaguars tight end since 2000 (Brady, 729).

In Tice's three seasons with the Jaguars assisting the offense, the club has finished with the two highest offensive rankings since 2000. The Jaguars have rushed for the two highest totals in team history as they finished with 2,391 rushing yards (149.4) in 2007 and a franchise-record 2,541 (158.8) in 2006.

In 2007, the Jaguars finished the regular season ranked seventh in the NFL in offense (357.4), tied for the second-highest ranking in franchise history. That season the Jaguars set franchise single-season records for points (411, 25.7 avg.), yards per play (5.6 avg.) and touchdowns (50).

The Vikings finished in the top 10 in the NFL for total offense in six of the nine seasons Tice was on the coaching staff. The Vikings set a NFL record for most consecutive games with 300-plus yards of offense (2002-04) with 36.

Tice had been associated with the Vikings since 1992 when he played three seasons (1992-93, 1995) as a tight end. He served as tight ends coach for Minnesota in 1996 and offensive line coach from 1997-2001 before being promoted to head coach.

Tice led the Vikings to the playoffs in 2004 and their first road playoff victory in franchise history with a win at Green Bay. Tice joined Jerry Burns as the only coaches in club history to win their playoff debut. The Vikings set a team record in 2004 for net yards (6,339) and passing yards (4,754). Daunte Culpepper set numerous club passing records and produced one of the finest seasons in NFL history by a quarterback.

The Vikings finished with a winning record in 2003 for the first time since 2000. The Vikings led the NFL in offense for the first time in their history and sent four players to the Pro Bowl. In Tice's first season as head coach in 2002, the Vikings led the NFL in rushing for the first time in team history with 2,507 yards.

As an offensive line coach, Tice tutored five different players (Matt Birk, Jeff Christy, Randall McDaniel, Todd Steussie, Korey Stringer) to 10 Pro Bowl appearances. In 1998, the offensive line paved the way for a NFL-record 556 points and then-record 41 touchdown passes. Three offensive linemen from the Vikings started in the Pro Bowl in 1998, the first offensive line trio in club history ever selected to the Pro Bowl.

Tice had 107 receptions for 894 yards and 11 touchdowns in his 14-year career. In addition to playing for the Vikings, he spent 10 seasons with Seattle (1981-88, 1990-91) and one season with Washington (1989). Tice, who started 109 of 177 NFL games, played under legendary head coach Chuck Knox in his final eight seasons in Seattle. He originally retired following the 1993 season, but was signed by the Vikings in December of 1995 to help a tight end position decimated by injuries.

Tice was the recipient of the Byron "Whizzer" White Humanitarian Award in 1987. Tice played

collegiately at Maryland where he started two seasons (1979-80) at quarterback. He was born February 2, 1959 in Bayshore, N.Y., and attended Central Islip High School in Long Island where he played for current Central Florida head coach George O'Leary. He and his wife Diane have two children, Adrienne and Nathan.

COACHING

BACKGROUND

Minnesota Vikings 1996-2005, Jacksonville Jaguars 2006-09.