Purple passion: enter the intense world of new Vikings coach Mike Tice as he tackles, finesses--and agonizes over--the challenges of a head-spinning first six months.

After a 14-year career as a tight end in the NFL, Mike Tice accepted an assistant coach's position with the Vikings under Dennis Green in 1996. With the support of his wife, Diane, who left her extended family behind in Seattle, Tice set a timeline; within eight years, he wanted to be a coordinator or head coach. He achieved his goal sooner than he had expected--and not at all in the way he had envisioned. Tice, 43, tells the story of his first six months on the job with the Vikings.

I'd always known how I wanted to become a head coach in the National Football League. I wanted to be coming off a playoff season where we were hot on offense, I was recommended for a ...