Next up for Bucs: decision on coach
Don Banks, The St.Petersburg Times, published 26 December 1995

Some time this week, Bucs general manager Rich McKay will sit down with team owner Malcolm Glazer and his sons, Bryan and Joel, to discuss the coaching future of Sam Wyche. As closing arguments go, Wyche said a mouthful with Tampa Bay's 37-10 season-ending humiliation Saturday at the hands of the playoff-bound Detroit Lions.

Wyche's fate was believed sealed well before this game. But just in case, the Bucs' near collapse on national television, with the accompanying mini-drama of Wyche and quarterback Trent Dilfer resuming their yearlong sideline love-fest, should be enough to sway any late undecideds. With Tampa Bay's 2-7 stretch run, a streak that rescued the Bucs' 13th consecutive non-winning season (7-9) after the threat of a 5-2 start, Wyche's dismissal is a given. The Bucs' timetable is uncertain, but Tampa Bay's fifth head coach is expected to be fired in the next 10 days. "I've got a future," Wyche said last week. "I just don't know what it is."

Wyche's original five-year contract, granted in January 1992, has a season remaining at $800,000. But a buyout clause was included in the deal's fifth year, which should save the franchise thousands. Questioned in the Bucs' locker room Saturday night, McKay declined comment on Wyche's future, his coach's rambling, post-game tirade or the spectacle of Dilfer and Wyche again feuding openly.

But this much is certain: By keeping his job past Sunday, Wyche at least avoided turning Christmas Eve into Groundhog Day. It was four years ago Sunday that Wyche and the Cincinnati Bengals parted ways after eight years. Wyche still maintains he was fired by Bengals owner Mike Brown in a year-end review, and Brown just as staunchly says Wyche resigned. Wyche is known to have drawn the interest of the Fox Network for a possible studio analyst or color analyst job next season. The network was considering Wyche last year, until the trust that operates the Culverhouse estate agreed to give him one more season and present him as part of the package that Glazer purchased in January.

As for candidates to replace Wyche, with Fox's Jimmy Johnson seen as heading to Miami or nowhere in the NFL in 1996, the only other name that would generate the ticket-buying frenzy the Glazers hope to generate would be Steve Spurrier. The sixth-year Gators coach is preparing Florida for its Jan. 2 national championship showdown against Nebraska. But come Jan. 3, with or without Wyche out of the way, the Bucs likely will start their coaching search by making official contact with Spurrier, who is known to be interested enough to listen.

The Bucs' biggest drawback, of course, is whether they can assure Spurrier he would be coaching in a warm-weather site, and not Cleveland or Baltimore. With that in mind, the question of where this franchise will play in '96 might make it difficult to hire a coach until that site is settled. The Bucs clearly want an offensive-minded coach, in hopes of getting franchise quarterback Trent Dilfer on track after two years of virtual rookie status. Other options who might surface include Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, Colts offensive coordinator Lindy Infante, and possibly even current Saints coach Jim Mora, who is expected to be let go after 10 years in New Orleans.

Wyche, despite producing a Tampa Bay-best .359 winning percentage (23-41), steered the Bucs to a seventh straight season of finishing either last or tied for the worst record in the NFC Central. Asked about his team's 2-7 second-half slide, Wyche said: "We did certainly hit a little of a plateau there. The seven losses would indicate that maybe you got flat. I'm not sure we digressed, though."

Sam, by the numbers: If you're scoring at home, Wyche's 23-41 record breaks down thusly: 15-17 (.469) at Tampa Stadium; 8-24 on the road (.250). The Bucs went 5-3 at home this season, their best mark since 1984's 6-2. Tampa Bay was 2-6 on the road for the fifth time in six years, including all four of Wyche's seasons. Wyche finished the season with a losing career record against each division opponent. He was 10-22 (.313) in the NFC Central, going 3-5 against Detroit and Minnesota, and 2-6 against the Packers and Bears. He never won a game at Chicago or Green Bay. The Bucs' offense finished next to last in the league in scoring with 238 points (14.9 per game). Believe it or not, it's not even a Wyche low with Tampa Bay. His '93 Bucs scored 237. His Bucs high was 267 in 1992.