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A heartbreaking loss that cost the Minnesota Vikings the division title will not cost Mike Tice his job.
Vikings owner Red McCombs confirmed on Tuesday that Tice will return as coach in 2004.
Tice has one one year left on his contract with a club option for 2005.
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However, speculation swirled that McCombs would make a change after the Vikings
blew an 11-point lead in the final two minutes and lost to the lowly Arizona
Cardinals, 18-17 last Sunday. On the final play of the game, Nathan Poole made
a leaping 28-yard touchdown catch in the end zone to hand Minnesota the crushing
defeat.
The Vikings (9-7) started the day in a first-place tie in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers and needed a win or a loss by the Packers to clinch the division title. The Packers rolled to a 31-3 rout of the Denver Broncos.
It was a colossal collapse for the Vikings, who became the first team since the 1978 Washington Redskins to start 6-0 and miss the playoffs.
Hired in January 2002 to
replace Dennis Green, Tice went 6-10 in his rookie season.