Tice took over head coaching duties on an interim basis for the final game of the 2001 season, replacing Dennis Green, and then was officially named head coach on January 10, 2002. He became the sixth head coach in team history and the first former Viking player to assume the role.

Tice attended the University of Maryland, College Park where he played quarterback. He played tight end in the National Football League from 1981 to 1995 with the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings. He was the offensive line coach for the Vikings prior to becoming the head coach. In March 2005, the NFL began to investigate Tice for organizing and profiting from a Super Bowl ticket scalping operation within the Vikings organization. He later admitted that these charges were true and the NFL fined him $100,000 on June 30, 2005. During the 2005 season, Tice was the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL.

Tice gained a reputation for being one of the wittiest football coaches when it came to giving press conferences. When he was coaching the Vikings, he was the tallest coach in the NFL, standing 6' 7".

Tice's contract with the Minnesota Vikings was allowed to expire after last game of the 2005 season on January 1, 2006. The Vikings had just defeated the Chicago Bears but had failed to get into the playoffs. The team's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which eliminated the Vikings from any possible playoff spot, effectively sealed Tice's fate. This was an ironic twist of fate, as Tice's first game as a head coach came against the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, when Spergon Wynn quarterbacked the team to a 19-3 loss. During his tenure of more than four years as the Vikings head coach, he had a regular season record of 32-33-0, while going 1-1 in the playoffs. Tice had regretted that he had not had a chance to directly tell his wife, who was already addressing rumors in the parking lot following the Vikings victory.