 Wyche with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1969 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 14, 18, 17, 15 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1945-01-05)January 5, 1945 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died: | January 2, 2020(2020-01-02) (aged 74) Pickens, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 218 lb (99 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | North Fulton (Atlanta, Georgia) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Furman | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1968 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||
| Regular season: | 84–107 (.440) (NFL) 3–8 (.273) (college) | ||||||||||||||
| Postseason: | 3–2 (.600) | ||||||||||||||
| Career: | 87–109 (.444) (NFL) 3–8 (.273) (college) | ||||||||||||||
Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference  | |||||||||||||||
Samuel David Wyche (/waɪtʃ/;[1] January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American professionalfootballquarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for theCincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for theSan Francisco 49ers. As head coach, he led the Bengals toSuper Bowl XXIII, which they lost to the 49ers 20–16, relinquishing the lead on a last-minutetouchdown. He was also known for introducing the use of theno-huddle offense as a standard offense (as opposed to use at the end of the half).
Wyche coached Cincinnati from 1984 to 1991, and his 64 wins with the Bengals were the most by a coach in franchise history until he was surpassed byMarvin Lewis in 2011.[2]
Wyche also played for theWashington Redskins,Detroit Lions,St. Louis Cardinals, andBuffalo Bills. He also coached at theUniversity of South Carolina andIndiana University, and for theSan Francisco 49ers,Tampa Bay Buccaneers, andBuffalo Bills.
From 1963 to 1965, Wyche playedcollege football atFurman University as aquarterback. He was also an initiated member ofKappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned hisBachelor of Arts degree from Furman University and hisMaster of Business Administration degree from theUniversity of South Carolina.[3]
From 1966 through 1967, Wyche played for theWheeling Ironmen of thesemi-professionalContinental Football League.[4]
Wyche signed with theAmerican Football League expansionCincinnati Bengals for the 1968 season, when he started three games and also served as backup toJohn Stofa andDewey Warren. In his rookie season, he completed 35 passes in 55 attempts (63.6 percent) for 494 yards and twotouchdowns. He also rushed 12 times for 74 yards (a 6.2 average) and caught one pass for five yards.[5]
In Wyche's second season, 1969, he played in seven games, again starting three, as Bengals rookieGreg Cook eventually assumed the starting role. For the season, Wyche completed 54 passes in 108 attempts (50.0 percent) for 838 yards and seven touchdowns. He rushed 12 times for 109 yards (an 8.9 average) and one touchdown.[5]
Wyche continued to play for the Bengals as they entered theNational Football League in 1970 as part of theNFL–AFL merger. He played in all 14 games, once again starting three, with 26 completions in 57 attempts (45.6 percent) for 411 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed 19 times for 118 yards (a 6.2 average) with two touchdowns.[5]
From1971 to1973, Wyche played for theWashington Redskins, who appeared inSuper Bowl VII. Although playing in eight games during those two seasons, he did not attempt a pass.[5] He primarily played as the team'sholder on field goals.[6]
In1974, Wyche played for theDetroit Lions, with only one pass attempted. He was also selected in the inauguralWorld Football League draft in 1974.
In the1976, Wyche signed with theSt. Louis Cardinals. He completed his only pass completion for five yards.[5] He was waived on September 24, 1976.[7]
Wyche was signed by theBuffalo Bills on October 27, 1976. He did not play any games during his time with the team.[8]
In 1967, while at theUniversity of South Carolina working on his MBA degree, Wyche was an assistant coach for theGamecocks.[9]
Wyche was an assistant coach and directed the passing game for theSan Francisco 49ers from1979 to1982. He was on the coaching staff of the1981 team that wonSuper Bowl XVI.[4]
In1983, Wyche was the head coach of theIndiana UniversityHoosiers,[4] who finished 3–8.[10] Future NFL head coachCam Cameron was a quarterback on that team.
Wyche was hired as the head coach of theCincinnati Bengals in late December1983.[11] In his first three seasons, Cincinnati finished second each time, then fell to 4–11 in1987.The next year, he led the Bengals to their secondSuper Bowl appearance, where they lost 20–16 to theSan Francisco 49ers, who rallied to win with a touchdown pass fromJoe Montana with 34 seconds remaining.[4]
Wyche was known as the "Always Innovative Sam Wyche" byNorman Chad, as well as the nickname, "Wicky Wacky Wyche"[12] for his unconventional play-calling. Wyche introduced the concept of having 12 or more players huddle on the field, then having a few leave the field. He called it the "sugar huddle"; it was meant to confuse the defense as to the personnel grouping. If defenses tried to adapt with their own substitutions, the Bengalssnapped the ball, often leading to the defense being penalized for having too many players on the field. The NFL responded by changing the rules so that defenses could match the offensive substitutions before a snap was allowed.[10] His Bengals were also the first to use theno-huddle/hurry-up offense as a base offense.[4]
On December 10, 1989, during a game versus theSeattle Seahawks, Bengals fans began to throw snowballs onto the field in protest of what they believed to be a bad call by the officials. The Seahawks, who were at their own 4-yard line and an easy target from the bleachers, refused to continue until the snowball-throwing stopped, and play was halted by the officials. In order to stop the onslaught, Wyche was given a house microphone to try to calm the crowd. Wyche chided the fans who were doing the throwing, and alluded to thereputation of theirin-state rivals, theCleveland Browns:[13]
Will the next person that seesanybody throw anything onto this field, point 'em out, and get 'em out of here. Youdon't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati![13]
After the Bengals lost that game he refused to allow the media into the locker room, a violation of NFL policy for which he was fined $3,000, an increase from a 1986 fine he was assessed for pushing a microphone out of a reporter's hand.[14] A year after the Seahawks game, he refused to allow a female reporter fromUSA Today in the locker room after a game, saying he did not want his players to be naked in front of her. The NFL fined him $27,000, the largest fine ever assessed against a coach. He complained that CommissionerPaul Tagliabue was more interested in fining him than finding a solution that worked.[4]
During his Cincinnati tenure, Wyche also had an acrimonious relationship withJerry Glanville, the head coach of the division rivalHouston Oilers, whom he called a "phony"; the teams played each other twice each season. In one contest, after the Bengals had scored to extend their lead over the Oilers to 45–0, Wyche ordered his team to make anonside kick, potentially allowing them to retain possession, a move teams usually make only when the score is close late in the game. After defeating the Oilers 61–7 in1989, Wyche waved derisively at Glanville as the teams left the field.[10]
On December 24, 1991, just three years after the Bengals' Super Bowl appearance, Wyche was fired by ownerMike Brown, who had taken over the team upon the death of his father, club founderPaul Brown, four months earlier. Controversy erupted when the Bengals claimed Wyche had resigned, relieving the team of any future payments, but Wyche stated he was fired.[10] His 61–66 record was the best of any Bengals' coach until 2011.[9]
Wyche was hired by theTampa Bay Buccaneers as head coach in1992. He spent the next four years as head coach of the Buccaneers, where he draftedDerrick Brooks,Warren Sapp, andJohn Lynch, players who would be key members of the successful Buccaneers teams under his successors,Tony Dungy andJon Gruden.[15] Wyche was dismissed at the conclusion of the1995 season,[9] having accumulated a 23–41 record over four straight losing seasons.[15]
Near the end of his tenure with the Buccaneers, Wyche participated in a lighthearted pregame promotional piece forNFL Films. At the time,Jimmy Johnson, then the recently dismissed coach of theDallas Cowboys, was rumored to be heading to Tampa Bay to displace Wyche. During the promo, Wyche was about to address his team when personnel assistantJohn Idzik ducked his head into the room. He beckoned Wyche out of the room, and instructed him to "bring your playbook." Wyche disappeared, and in walked Johnson wearing a Buccaneers jacket, who then addressed "his" new team, to everyone's surprise.[16]
From2004 to2005, Wyche was the quarterbacks coach for theBuffalo Bills.[9]
In 2002, 2003 and from 2006 to 2010, Wyche volunteered as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for thePickens High School Blue Flame inPickens, South Carolina.[9] He helped the Blue Flame get to the second round of the playoffs in 2006. Wyche was a registered substitute teacher in Pickens County schools.[17]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Hoosiers(Big Ten Conference)(1983) | |||||||||
| 1983 | Indiana | 3–8 | 2–7 | T–8th | |||||
| Indiana: | 3–8 | 2–7 | |||||||
| Total: | 3–8 | ||||||||
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CIN | 1984 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2nd in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN | 1985 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2nd in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN | 1986 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN | 1987 | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 4th in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN | 1988 | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 1st in AFC Central | 2 | 1 | .667 | Lost toSan Francisco 49ers inSuper Bowl XXIII |
| CIN | 1989 | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4th in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN | 1990 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .688 | 1st in AFC Central | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toLos Angeles Raiders in AFC Divisional Round |
| CIN | 1991 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 4th in AFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| CIN Total | 61 | 66 | 0 | .480 | 3 | 2 | .600 | |||
| TB | 1992 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3rd in NFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| TB | 1993 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 5th in NFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| TB | 1994 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 5th in NFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| TB | 1995 | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5th in NFC Central | - | - | - | - |
| TB Total | 23 | 41 | 0 | .359 | ||||||
| Total | 84 | 107 | 0 | .440 | 3 | 2 | .600 | |||
In1996, Wyche worked as a sports analyst withMarv Albert on a weeklyNFL game for NBC. In1997, he was promoted to the studio onNBC's weekly pre-game and half-time shows. He worked as an analyst forCBS withKevin Harlan on the weekly NFL games from1998 until week 2 in2000 when his voice gave part way through a game betweenMiami andMinnesota. Beesley Reece came up from sideline reporting to do color commentary for the rest of that game. He returned to CBS in2001, where he did the first two games of the NFL season withGus Johnson, andBrent Jones. In2006, he was a commentator onWestwood One's NFL Thursday night coverage, withDick Enberg. Also in2006, he began working withTom Werme broadcasting Southern Conference Football forFox Sports South.[9][19]
Wyche and his wife, Jane, had two children, Zak and Kerry, and six grandchildren. He was a private pilot for many years. He also enjoyed golf, tennis, jogging and riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.[3]
Wyche underwent abiopsy onlymph nodes in his chest in 2000. His left Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve was severed during the procedure, leaving his voice consistently hoarse and scratchy. From 2004 to 2006, he was a volunteer atPickens High School in South Carolina as a public speaker. He was an amateur magician.[20]
Wyche's brother,Bubba, was a quarterback atTennessee and in theCanadian Football League (CFL) andWorld Football League (WFL).[21]
On September 9, 2016, Wyche was admitted to theCarolinas Medical Center's Dickson Heart Unit inCharlotte, North Carolina, awaiting aheart transplant due tocongestive heart failure.[22] Three days later, aheart was found, and on September 13, Wyche underwent a 4.5-hour transplant operation.[23]
Wyche was diagnosed withmelanoma in 2019 and died at his home inPickens, South Carolina, on January 2, 2020, at the age of 74.[24]
On November 4, 2008, Wyche secured a seat on the County Council forPickens County, South Carolina.[25] Running as a member of theRepublican Party, Wyche defeatedDemocrat Wesley Burbage for the Pickens seat, by a margin of 6,478 votes to 1,639.[25]