Mike Tice vs. Jeremy Bates: Which Offense will Rule?

As we all know, the Bears have had a very productive off-season thus far including hiring Mike Tice as the new offensive coordinator and Jeremy Bates as the new quarterbacks coach. And with training camp right around the corner, one of the things I’m looking forward to the most is seeing how the two of these coaches come together and create an productive offense.

Obviously, there is much anticipation that the Cutler to Marshall route will be utilized often, drawing comparison to their successful seasons in Denver. Also, Alshon Jeffery is expected to shine and rumored to be the Bears #2 receiver; in addition to fan favorite Hester, Bennett, etc. Cutler has options this year, and my thoughts are that Bates is going to want to take advantage of them as much as possible. Who wouldn’t?

But the reality is that Tice is going to be making the decisions on majority of the offense and the direction he wants to take the team in. And I’m not claiming animosity between the two of them (trust me when I say that is the last thing I want) but when you are redeveloping the leadership on your team, you have to come to equal terms to make the changes successful.

I have recently read that Tice wants to go back to a more traditional Bears offense, which in my mind is a hard hitting run team. Does that mean Cutler won’t be able to test out his receivers? Obviously not. (Or maybe I should say hopefully not considering out offensive line issues have been somewhat ignored so far.) But my thoughts are that Tice will want to keep the ball on the ground more so than in the air.

So the question is, where do these two gentlemen compromise? I’m expecting a run based offense at first, but I’m not sure it will last considering the offensive line dilemma. I think the passing game will be able to compete against elite defenses if executed correctly and everyone stays healthy. I expect it to be the style offense that carries the team throughout the season. Training camp will give us a sneak peek the thoughts are thus far regarding offense, but hopefully communication and negation between Bates and Tice will be smooth sailing.