Wyche Dismissed After Four Seasons Of 23-41 Football Despite Encouraging 7-9 Record, Bucs, Coach Reach Mutual Agreement

Sam Wyche thanked the fans and his players before giving himself a pat on the back and walking out the door.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers said it was by mutual agreement Wednesday. The coach’s 23-41 record in four seasons with the NFL’s losingest team of the last 20 years suggested neither side really had a choice.

The dismissal came one day after the Arizona Cardinals fired Buddy Ryan, whom the Bucs snubbed in 1992 to hire Wyche because of his reputation as a motivator and offensive innovator who had taken Cincinnati to a Super Bowl.

Although Tampa Bay won more than six games for the first time in 14 years, this season’s 7-9 record was not as encouraging as it might appear because the team played so poorly the second half of the season.

After winning five of their first seven games, the Bucs lost seven of the last nine. The slide assured the franchise’s 13th consecutive losing record and 17th in 20 seasons.

The Bucs released a statement from team owner Malcolm Glazer, who also is exploring options to move the team because plans to build a new stadium in Tampa haven’t taken shape as quickly as he’d like.

“This is certainly one of the more difficult days I have had in my relatively new tenure,” said Glazer, who bought the team this year from the estate of Hugh Culverhouse.

The Bucs haven’t finished with a winning record or made the playoffs since going 5-4 during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The 1995 team remained in contention for a postseason berth until the 15th game, despite the second-half nosedive.

Wyche became Tampa Bay’s fifth coach in 1992, replacing Richard Williamson. He was with the Bengals from 1984-91 and won the 1988 AFC title before losing to San Francisco in the Super Bowl.

Although he arrived in Tampa Bay with a reputation as an offensive innovator, the Bucs didn’t live up to the billing. The team was next to last in scoring this season and produced just five touchdown passes - two in the final 12 games.

Wyche failed to turn around the offense despite management’s willingness to spend millions on free agent acquisitions Alvin Harper and Jackie Harris and to draft quarterback Trent Dilfer, who was the sixth pick overall in 1994.

Early speculation about a replacement centers around Florida’s Steve Spurrier and former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson.