Ex-Vikings coach Mike Tice on Aireontae Ersery: 'This isn't my flavor'

If Mike Tice were in charge of an NFL team's draft, there's a very good chance that he would pass on Minnesota Gophers left tackle Aireontae Ersery.

Talking with his son, Nate Tice, on the Football 301 Podcast recently, the former Minnesota Vikings head coach and offensive line coach identified the reasons why Ersery isn't his "flavor."

"This isn't, to be frank, this isn't my flavor right here. You got a big guy that bends at the waist, that doesn't sink his hips, doesn't finish great. He doesn't have that motor like [Gray Zabel] has. Absolutely not," Tice explained. "He does a little bit of watching at the end of plays. That would pretty much drive me nuts. He gets narrow in the run game.

"I'm trying not to be a real line coach in this show for you Nate. I don't want to say he looked like Tarzan, played like Jane, but for his size and for the amount of experience he has, I'd like to see him do a little bit better, to be frank with you."

Why does being a "waist bender" bother Tice?

"Sometimes that has to do with being a really big man playing against really small players, and you tend to develop bad habits because you're playing against littler guys and you kind of bend at the waist and you kind of throw them around a little bit. But now when you're laying against real men your size, you gotta be able to play with leverage. This young man doesn't consistently play with leverage," Tice said.

Tice also questioned Ersery's motor, wondering if the All-Big Ten tackle played up and down to the competition.

"I have down he's a grabber, not a puncher. I have down he's a wrestler, which means he stops his feet. Anytime I make a comment he's a wrestler, that means he stops his feet and he's just trying to hold the guy away from the ball. That's that motor thing. That's that finish. That grit. That my guy is not going to hit the ball-carrier and the ball-carrier is my buddy and I don't want my guy punching my buddy in the mouth, so you have to play with that attitude. I don't see that on tape," Tice reasoned.