Sam Wyche
Date of birth	January 5, 1945 (1945-01-05) (age 66)
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	214 pounds (97 kg)
Position(s)	Head Coach Quarterback
College	Furman
Career record	87-109-0
Championships       won	1988 AFC Championship
Stats
Playing stats	Pro Football Reference
Playing stats	NFL.com
Playing stats	DatabaseFootball
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a player
1968-1970 1971-1973 1974 1976 1976	Cincinnati Bengals Washington Redskins Detroit Lions St. Louis Cardinals Buffalo Bills
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1984-1991 1992-1995	Cincinnati Bengals Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Samuel David "Sam" Wyche (born January 5, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former American football player and head coach, who is best known as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. Perhaps best known for introducing the use of the No-huddle offense as a standard offense (as opposed to use at the end of the half), Wyche's greatest achievement as a head coach was leading the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII, which they lost to the 49ers 20–16, relinquishing the lead with only 34 seconds remaining.

Wyche's 64 wins with the Bengals are the most ever by a coach in their franchise history.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 College 1.2 Professional 2 Coaching career 2.1 University of South Carolina 2.1.1 San Francisco 49ers 2.1.2 Indiana University 2.1.3 Cincinnati Bengals 2.1.4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2.1.5 Buffalo Bills 2.1.6 High School 3 Head coaching record 3.1 College 3.2 NFL 4 Broadcasting career 5 Personal 6 Political career 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] College

From 1963 to 1965, Wyche played college football at Furman University as a quarterback He was also an initiated member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity.

[edit] Professional

In 1968, Wyche played for the Wheeling Ironmen of the Continental Football League. From 1968–1970, Wyche played for the Cincinnati Bengals. From 1971 to 1973, Wyche played for the Washington Redskins and played in Super Bowl VII. In 1974, Wyche played for the Detroit Lions. In 1976, Wyche played for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1976, Wyche played for the Buffalo Bills.

[edit] Coaching career

[edit] University of South Carolina

In 1967, while at the University of South Carolina to receive his MBA, Wyche was an assistant coach for the Gamecocks.

[edit] San Francisco 49ers

Wyche was an assistant coach and directed the passing game for the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1982.

[edit] Indiana University

In 1983, Wyche was the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.

[edit] Cincinnati Bengals

Wyche was hired as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1984. Known as an emotional coach, he bonded well with his players and occasionally collided with superiors. His ongoing feud with former Houston Oilers head coach Jerry Glanville was best exemplified in late 1989, when the Bengals scored early and often in a 61–7 thrashing. He also helped stoke the flames of the Cleveland - Cincinnati intrastate rivalry with several other comments and play calling during his tenure.

Wyche is known as the "Always Innovative Sam Wyche" by Norman Chad 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. This was meant to confuse the defense as to the personnel grouping and give the offense an advantage. This has since been outlawed in the NFL. His Bengals were also the first to use the No-huddle/hurry-up offense as a base offense.

On December 10, 1989, during a game versus the Seattle Seahawks, Bengals fans in protest of what they perceived to be a bad call by the officials, began to throw beer bottles and other debris onto the field at the referees and the Seahawks, who were at their own 4-yard line and an easy target from the bleachers. Seattle refused to continue until they 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, asking fans to please point out anyone throwing anything to stadium security and chided the fans who were doing the throwing: "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"

On December 24, 1991, just three years after the Bengals' Super Bowl appearance, Wyche was fired by owner Mike Brown, who had taken over the team upon the death of his father, club founder Paul 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.

[edit] Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Wyche was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as head coach in 1992. He spent the next four years as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he drafted Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, and John Lynch. He was dismissed at the conclusion of the 1995 season.

Near the end of his tenure with the Bucs, Wyche participated in a lighthearted pregame promotional piece for NFL Films. At the time, Jimmy Johnson, then the recently dismissed coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was rumored to be heading to Tampa Bay to displace Wyche. During the promo, Wyche was about to address his team when general manager Rich McKay 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Buffalo Bills

From 2004 to 2005, Wyche was the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills.

[edit] High School

In 2002, 2003,2006,2007,2008, Wyche volunteered as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Pickens High School Blue Flame in Pickens, South Carolina. He helped the Blue Flame get to the second round of the playoffs in 2006. Sam was a registered substitute teacher in Pickens County schools.

[edit] Head coaching record

[edit] College

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

[edit] NFL

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 to San Francisco 49ers in Super 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 to Los Angeles Raiders in AFC Divisional Round
CIN	1991	3	13	0	.188	-	-	-	-
CIN Total	61	66	0	.480		3	2	.600
TAM	1992	5	11	0	.313	3rd in NFC Central	-	-	-	-
TAM	1993	5	11	0	.313	5th in NFC Central	-	-	-	-
TAM	1994	6	10	0	.375	5th in NFC Central	-	-	-	-
TAM	1995	7	9	0	.438	5th in NFC Central	-	-	-	-
TB Total	23	41	0	.359
Total	84	107	0	.440		3	2	.600

[edit] Broadcasting career

In 1996, Wyche worked as a sports analyst with Marv Albert on a weekly NFL game for NBC. In 1997, he was promoted to the studio on NBC's weekly pre-game and half-time shows. He worked as an analyst for CBS with Kevin Harlan on the weekly NFL games from 1998–1999. In 2006, he was named commentator on Westwood One's NFL Thursday night coverage, partnered with Dick Enberg. From 2006-present, he worked with Tom Werme broadcasting Southern Conference Football for Fox Sports South.

[edit] Personal

Wyche underwent a biopsy on lymph nodes in his chest in 2000. His left vocal cord was severed during the procedure, leaving his voice consistently hoarse and scratchy. From 2004 to 2006, he was a volunteer at Pickens High School in South Carolina as a public speaker.

[edit] Political career

On November 4, 2008, Wyche secured a seat on the County Council for Pickens County, South Carolina.^[a] Running as a member of the Republican Party, Wyche defeated Democrat Wesley Burbage for the Pickens seat, by a margin of 6,478 votes to 1,639.^[a] In July 2009, Wyche let it be known that he is considering running for the GOP nomination for South Carolina's 3rd congressional district, which is being vacated by incumbent J. Gresham Barrett, who is running for Governor of South Carolina.^[b]

[edit] See also

• Other American Football League players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NFL Network Video: Sam Wyche Feature
• Sam Wyche at the College Football Data Warehouse

Sporting positions
Preceded by	Buffalo Bills Quarterback Coach 2004–2005	Succeeded by Turk Schonert

v · d · eSan Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XVI Champions 3 Jim Miller | 7 Guy Benjamin | 14 Ray Wersching | 16 Joe Montana (MVP) | 20 Amos Lawrence | 21 Eric Wright | 22 Dwight Hicks | 24 Rick Gervais | 27 Carlton Williamson | 28 Lynn Thomas | 29 Saladin Martin | 30 Bill Ring | 31 Walt Easley | 32 Ricky Patton | 35 Lenvil Elliott | 38 Johnny Davis | 42 Ronnie Lott | 49 Earl Cooper | 51 Randy Cross | 52 Bobby Leopold | 53 Milt McColl | 54 Craig Puki | 56 Fred Quillan | 57 Dan Bunz | 58 Keena Turner | 59 Willie Harper | 60 John Choma | 61 Dan Audick | 62 Walt Downing | 64 Jack Reynolds | 65 Lawrence Pillers | 66 Allan Kennedy | 68 John Ayers | 71 Keith Fahnhorst | 74 Fred Dean | 75 John Harty | 76 Dwaine Board | 78 Archie Reese | 79 Jim Stuckey | 80 Eason Ramson | 84 Mike Shumann | 85 Mike Wilson | 86 Charle Young | 87 Dwight Clark | 88 Freddie Solomon Head Coach: Bill Walsh Coaches: Cas Banaszek | Norb Hecker | Milt Jackson | Billie Matthews | Bobb McKittrick | Bill McPherson | Ray Rhodes | George Seifert | Chuck Studley | Sam Wyche

v · d · eCincinnati Bengals head coaches Brown • Johnson • Rice • Gregg • Wyche • Shula • Coslet • LeBeau • Lewis

v · d · eCincinnati Bengals 1968 Inaugural Season Roster Dan Archer | Marty Baccaglio  | Estes Banks  | Al Beauchamp  | Danny Brabham  | Frank Buncom  | Steve Chomyszak | Paul Elzey | Bernie Erickson  | Howard Fest  | Curt Frazier | White Graves | Jim Griffin | Harry Gunner | Sherrill Headrick | Ken Herock | Mike Hibler | Bobby Hunt | Bob Johnson | Essex Johnson | Willie Jones | Rex Keeling | Bob Kelly | Bill Kindricks | Charlie King | Ron Lamb | Dale Livingston | John Matlock  | Pat Matson | Ed McCall | Wayne McClure | Warren McVea | Dave Middendorf | John Neidert | Pete Perreault | Bill Peterson | Jess Phillips | Dennis Randall | Andy Rice | Paul Robinson | Saint Saffold | Bill Scott | Rod Sherman | Tommie Smiley | Fletcher Smith | Philip Spiller | Bill Staley | John Stofa | Bob Trumpy | Dewey Warren | Teddy Washington | Andre White | Monk Williams | Ernie Wright | Sam Wyche Head Coach: Paul Brown

v · d · eTampa Bay Buccaneers head coaches McKay • Bennett • Perkins • Williamson • Wyche • Dungy • Gruden • Morris

v · d · eIndiana Hoosiers head football coaches Arthur B. Woodford (1887–1888) • Evans Woollen (1889) • No team (1890) • Billy Herod (1891) • No coach (1892–1893) • Gustave Ferbert & Coach Huddleston (1894) • Winchester Osgood & Coach Wren (1895) • Madison G. Gonterman (1896–1897) • James H. Horne (1898–1904) • James M. Sheldon (1905–1913) • Clarence Childs (1914–1915) • Ewald O. Stiehm (1916–1921) • James P. Herron (1922) • Bill Ingram (1923–1925) • Harlan Page (1926–1930) • Earle C. Hayes (1931–1933) • Bo McMillin (1934–1947) • Clyde Smith (1948–1951) • Bernard Anthony Crimmins (1952–1956) • Bob Hicks (1957) • Phil Dickens (1958–1964) • John Pont (1965–1972) • Lee Corso (1973–1982) • Sam Wyche (1983) • Bill Mallory (1984–1996) • Cam Cameron (1997–2001) • Gerry DiNardo (2002–2004) • Terry Hoeppner (2005–2006) • Bill Lynch (2007–2010) • Kevin R. Wilson (2011– )

Persondata
Name	Wyche, Sam
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 5, 1945
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death