Sam Wyche, the former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and coach, died on Tuesday after a brief battle with recurring melanoma (skin cancer) at the age of 74, according to a statement released by the team.
Michael Brown, the owner of the Bengals, said, “Sam was a wonderful guy. We got to know him as both a player and a coach. 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,” he added. “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.”
Wyche played three seasons for Bengals before heading to the Redskins, Lions and then Cardinals. In 1984, Wyche returned to the Bengals and led them to their second Super Bowl appearance.
His coaching career included four years as the Buccaneers’ head coach from 1992 to 1995. He also has a two-year stint as the Bills quarterbacks coach and two different tenures at Pickens High School, South Carolina.
However, Wyche is mostly remembered for being Bengals’ coach for eight seasons, which saw him lead the team to 64 wins and an AFC championship in 1988.
Apart from his coaching achievements, Wyche is remembered for his colorful personality in an age where coaches were just beginning to show their emotions. Boomer Esiason told NFL Network for a documentary on the ’88 Bengals, “I always thought of Sam and me as a bucking bronco with a guy that’s trying to tame him. He put a lot on my plate. He would expect a lot from me. He would never let me put a wrist band on my arm to cheat. And he would always grill me, mentally, every day.”
