RIP Sam Wyche

Wyche was a great storyteller. He would fill in details and give amazing insights. Also, would say whatever was on his mind. Some stories.

— Wyche was speaking at some luncheon, but my editor didn’t want to cover it so I went on my own. Wyche gets a call just before his speech is to start, steps out, comes back in ashen. Takes the dais and simply said he had just been told Bill Walsh wasnt going to make it through the night. My editor didn’t use that story because I was there on my own money and he would have to reimburse me for working.
— Wyche got injured at the end of his college career and ended up as a grad assistant at South Carolina. He often claimed the only reason he made the Bengals was he made sure to always throw the ball when scouts came to look at receivers.
— despite his class clown persona, the man had a brilliant offensive mind. Paul Brown kept Wyche’s notebook/playbook from his first season because it was so meticulously done.
— boogers. He claimed that throwing a football required the same spin as flicking a booger.
— I’ve read that he and Dwight Clark practiced “the catch” all week leading up to the 1981 NFC championship game. He said he felt it would be needed.

 

Seriously, dude.

 

Guess if you're going to lose it, lose it in a way for the ages.

 

Gannett.

 

When we had that thread a few weeks ago about one-and-done coaches, Wyche struck me as the poster child for two-and-done.

 

Changed the game. No rinky-dink high school would be running a no-huddle today if he hadn't had the boldness to do it.
They called him Wicky-Wacky, then they copied him. And worse, some of them took the credit for inventing it.

 

Say no more ...

 

Also an amateur magician. There was no coach like him.

 

Had no idea Wyche was on the staff of the Niners. RIP.

 

I was going to guess Ogden or Dean Singleton.

 

The league has no mad scientists anymore like this - it's one of the reasons it sucks a fat one.