PICKENS, SOUTH CAROLINA — Sam Wyche, who coached the IU football team for one season, then left for the NFL, has died.
His death, at 74, was reported Thursday by RTV6 sister station WCPO in Cincinnati.
Wyche is best remembered for his eight years as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, where he took the team to the 1989 Super Bowl and developed the no-huddle offense.
In Bloomington, Wyche was hired in 1983 to take over for Lee Corso, after the Hoosiers went 8-14 in Corso's final two seasons. IU struggled to a 3-8 record in Wyche's one year as head coach. He then left for the Bengals.
Wyche won 64 games in eight seasons with the Bengals. He then was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for four years.
Wyche died at his home in Pickens, South Carolina. Son Zak Wyche told WCPO his father had battled cancer recently. "It was in his liver and he just went really fast," Zak Wyche said. "He was able to walk around Saturday with a walker and then the next morning he was unresponsive."
"He would do anything for anybody," Zak said. He’s very selfless. He’d loan people his truck for them to use. He would take care of people in need. He would let people stay in the house if they were having trouble. He would do things for everybody else."
