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Mike Tice was working in his office when his wife telephoned.
"Red had a press conference, and you're coming back!" she told him.
Diane Tice had heard the news from a relative, who had heard it on the radio.
I guess that sort of made it official.
Tice had spoken to McCombs earlier Tuesday morning and there had been no mention
of his job status.
"He didn't indicate anything," Tice said with a shrug. "He asked
me how I was doing with my reports."
But at 11 a.m., McCombs took part in a conference call with the local media.
During the conversation, he professed to be totally shocked at speculation that
Tice's job might be in jeopardy.
"It's not coming from me," he said from his office in San Antonio.
"We expect Tice and the staff to be back."
We couldn't see his expression, obviously, but Red had to be struggling to stifle
a case of the giggles. McCombs played this one like a bass fiddle. He admitted
to hearing rampant speculation about Tice's status for the last three weeks,
but he never made a move to quell the talk.
All he had to do was say "no way" and he would have at least dampened
the conjecture. Instead, we didn't hear a peep out of him. By remaining silent
he ratcheted up the pressure. Then he sat back to watch how Tice and his staff
handled twisting in the wind.
Well, if he wasn't telling, Tice wasn't asking.
"I wasn't going to ask him," said Tice. "That's something I'd
never do. I wasn't raised like that. I'm under contract. There are two things
I'd never do. I won't ask about my job status, and I won't ask for a raise."
That last sentence likely will wind up highlighted in yellow marker and placed
in an expensive frame down in San Antonio.
Yahoo, we're keeping operating costs down! Pass the jalapeno dip!
McCombs said he never addressed the situation because it was idle speculation
that wasn't even on his radar. It wasn't worth rebutting.
OK, I'll buy that. And can you get me a deal on a honey of an '88 Plymouth,
one little old lady owner, low miles, clean as a whistle?
But it's an owner's prerogative to hold his coach's feet to the fire. By doing
so, he's letting him know 1) just who the boss is and 2) he better produce.
It was funny because during Red's conference call, many of the big shots from
the front office showed up in the media room to try to get an earful. They obviously
were wondering what the heck was going on, just like we were. I thought one
of them was going to request more paper clips over the speakerphone.
Anyway, the official company line is that all the speculation about Tice's job
was nonsense. There was nothing to it whatsoever. It was all baloney. But apparently
it was such good baloney that even Tice took a big bite. Because he was wondering
if he was coming back.
At least Tice now knows where he stands, even though McCombs still hasn't said
a word to him about his status. Tice found out he was returning when his wife
called and when several staff members listening in on the conference call ran
up to his office with the good news.
McCombs could have at least sent him a candy-gram or a bubba-gram or something
to confirm that he's still his guy. Especially since he knew Tice was wondering
where he stood.
Tice said he is happy to be coming back. He said he was in such a zombie-like
state on Monday, when McCombs' silence was deafening, that he really couldn't
focus on the issue.
Thinking a bit more clearly on Tuesday — although still "crushed"
by the loss — Tice was more upbeat. No, upbeat is the wrong word. Let's
say he appeared less likely to throw himself under a bus.
"I put my life and soul into this job," he said. "I spend more
time thinking about the players, coaches, fans and beat writers than I do about
my wife and kids."
Clearly he feels bad about that, especially since the local beat writers aren't
much to look at. So he is planning on getting away for a long weekend with his
wife. After all, she gave him the scoop on his job status.
I hear San Antonio is lovely this time of year.
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