Former NFL coach Wyche dies
Quarterback-turned-coach led Bengals to second Super Bowl appearance in 1988
Sam Wyche, who pushed the boundaries as an offensive innovator with the Cincinnati Bengals and challenged the NFL’s protocols along the way, has died. He was 74.
Wyche, who had a history of blood clots in his lungs and had a heart transplant in 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina, died Thursday of melanoma, officials with the Bengals confirmed.
“Sam was a wonderful guy. We got to know him as both a player and a coach,” Bengals president Mike Brown said. “As our coach, he had great success and took us to the Super Bowl. He was friends with everyone here, both during his tenure as head coach and afterwards. We not only liked him, we admired him as a man. He had a great generosity of spirit and lived his life trying to help others. We express our condolences to Jane and his children Zak and Kerry.”
One of the Bengals’ original quarterbacks, Wyche was known for his offensive innovations as a coach. He led the Bengals to their second Super Bowl during the 1988 season by using a no-huddle offense that forced the league to change its substitution rules.
And that wasn’t the only way he made waves throughout the NFL. A nonconformist in a button-down league, Wyche refused to comply with the NFL’s locker room policy for media, ran up the score to settle a personal grudge, and belittled the city of rival Cleveland during his eight seasons in Cincinnati. He later coached Tampa Bay for four seasons.
Wyche was signed by the Bengals for their inaugural sea
son. He got No. 14 — later worn by Ken Anderson and Andy Dalton — and played three seasons with Cincinnati, throwing for 12 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He later spent two years in Washington as a backup and a year each in Detroit and St. Louis.
It’s as a coach that he made his mark on offense. The Bengals hired him as head coach in 1984, and he soon showed a knack for going against the grain. During a game against San Francisco in 1987, he chose to try to run out the clock on fourth down rather than punt or take a safety — the safe choices. When the play failed, Joe Montana got a chance to throw a winning touchdown pass to Jerry Rice, an ending that’s still remembered among the league’s most improbable finishes.
He put his fingerprints on NFL offense with Boomer Esiason as the quarterback. He developed what he called a “sugar huddle” that had his team group near the line after a substitution. If the defense tried to match the substitution, he’d have the offense snap the ball and catch it with too many players on the field. The NFL eventually adopted a rule allowing defenses to match an offense’s substitution before the ball is snapped.
Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl in the 1988 season and lost to the 49ers again on Montana’s touchdown pass with 34 seconds to go.
Wyche loved to push the envelope on offense and loved to go against standard wisdom. A Steelers assistant coach dubbed him
Former Bills quarterbacks coach Sam Wyche answers a question during a news conference introducing the Bills’ new coaching staff at the Ralph Wilson Stadium complex in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Feb. 10, 2004.
“Wicky Wacky” for his goagainst-the-grain mentality.
It wasn’t just in the playbook where he showed an independent streak. He developed a history of fines and feuds. He defied league policy by barring reporters from the locker room following a last-minute loss to Seattle in 1989 and clamped a gag order on his players, resulting in a $3,000 fine from the league. A year later, he defied then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue and barred a female reporter from the locker room. He was unrepentant despite a $27,941 fine.
Wyche also famously took a jab at Cleveland during a game against the Seahawks at Riverfront Stadium in 1989. When fans started pelting players with snowballs, Wyche grabbed the public address announcer’s microphone and told fans, “You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati.”
He also feuded with Houston Oilers coach Jerry Glanville, whom he called a phony. He had the Bengals make an onside kick when
they led Glanville’s team by 45 points, and Wyche waved derisively at Glanville as he ran off the field following a 61-7 win near the end of the 1989 season.
During his eight seasons in Cincinnati, Wyche’s teams went 61-66 in the regular season and 3-2 in the playoffs. The Bengals never had consecutive winning seasons, and they made the playoffs just twice during his eight years.
His career ended with more controversy after the 1991 season — owner Mike Brown announced that Wyche had quit during their end-of-the-season meeting, but Wyche insisted he was fired with two years left on his contract.
The Buccaneers hired him for the 1992 season and finished 5-11. Tampa Bay went 23-41 in his four seasons.
Wyche later served as quarterbacks coach in Buffalo and later became a volunteer offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for a high school in South Carolina.
Navy 20, Kansas State 17
ARIZONA BOWL
Tucson, Ariz.
Wyoming 38, Georgia State 17
ALAMO BOWL
San Antonio
Texas 38, Utah 10
Wednesday, Jan. 1
CITRUS BOWL
Orlando, Fla.
Alabama 35, Michigan 16
OUTBACK BOWL
Tampa, Fla.
Minnesota 31, Auburn 24
ROSE BOWL
Pasadena, Calif.
Oregon 28, Wisconsin 27
SUGAR BOWL
New Orleans
Georgia 26, Baylor 14
Thursday, Jan. 2
BIRMINGHAM (ALA.) BOWL
Cincinnati 38, Boston College 6
GATOR BOWL
Jacksonville, Fla.
Indiana (8-4) vs. Tennessee (n)
Friday, Jan. 3
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL
Boise
Ohio (6-6) vs. Nevada (7-5), 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 4
ARMED FORCES BOWL
Fort Worth, Texas
Southern Miss (7-5) vs. Tulane (6-6), 8:30 a.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Jan. 6
LENDINGTREE BOWL
Mobile, Ala.
Miami (Ohio) (8-5) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (10-3), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, Jan. 13
COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
New Orleans
Clemson (14-0) vs. LSU (14-0), 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Jan. 18
EAST-WEST SHRINE CLASSIC
At St. Petersburg, Fla.
East vs. West, noon (NFL)
1. UConn (10-0) vs. Wichita State , (n.)
2. Oregon (10-1) did not play.
3. Oregon State (12-0) did not play.
4. South Carolina (12-1) vs. No. 13 Kentucky.
5. Stanford (11-1) did not play.
6. Baylor (10-1) did not play.
7. Louisville (12-1) at Clemson, (n.)
8. Florida State (13-0) at Syracuse, (n.)
9. N.C. State (12-0) vs. Virginia Tech, (n.)
10. UCLA (12-0) did not play.
11. Texas A&M (12-1) at No. 20 Arkansas, (n.)
12. Maryland (10-3) did not play.
13. Kentucky (11-1) at No. 4 South Carolina, (n.)
14. Indiana (12-2) did not play.
15. Mississippi State (12-2) vs. Florida, (n.)
16. DePaul (11-2) did not play.
17. Gonzaga (12-1) at BYU, (n.)
18. Arizona (12-0) did not play.
19. West Virginia (10-1) did not play.
20. Arkansas (12-1) vs. No. 11 Texas
A&M, (n.)
21. Missouri State (10-2) did not play.
22. Tennessee (11-2) beat Missouri 77-66.
23. Miami (9-3) at Georgia Tech, (n.)
24. Minnesota (11-2) did not play.
25. Texas (8-4) did not play. at Ball St. Wright St. at Green Bay at Iona Quinnipiac at Siena at Canisius N. Kentucky at Niagara at Ohio State Delaware at Houston Rutgers at Milwaukee at Bowl. Green at Seton Hall Temple
Friday
Favorite
at Carolina at Dallas
Ohio
Tulane
La.-Lafayette
LSU 31⁄2 31⁄2 6
7
5
6
5 31⁄2 PK 11 11⁄2 11 5
8 21⁄2 off 31⁄2 -122/+112 -300/+270
Saturday
Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas
7 (561⁄2)
Monday LendingTree Bowl at Mobile, Ala.
14 (541⁄2)
Monday, Jan. 13 Championship Game at New Orleans
51⁄2 (691⁄2)
Toledo at Oakland Ill.-Chicago St. Peter's
at Marist Monmouth Manhattan at Detroit
Fairfield Wisconsin at Drexel
UCF at Nebraska
IUPUI Kent St. Georgetown
at Tulsa
Washington
Detroit
Southern Miss
Miami (Ohio)
NHL
Clemson