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Former Buccaneers' Coach Sam Wyche Undergoes Successful Heart Transplant

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Former Buccaneers’ coach Sam Wyche has had his prayers answered, receiving a new heart and recovering from surgery.

Fire those cannons, ladies and gentlemen.  It’s great news to report for former Buccaneers‘ coach Sam Wyche.

For anyone who missed it, James Yarcho reported that a donor heart had been located for Wyche, and he was awaiting all of the final tests.  Had this not occurred, he would have likely needed an implantable device to keep his heart working while they waited for a transplant.

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Well everything checked out fine, and according to Scottie Kay Auton of WSPA.com, he went into surgery at around 3:00 AM Tuesday morning, and after 4.5 hours, is in his room recovering.  Due to his previous history, implanting the device may have been problematic for Wyche, so the location of the donor at the 11th hour and the successful surgery are truly blessings for the former coach and his family.

The recovery period will be long and difficult, but without the transplant he may not have ever had the opportunity to have the long recovery.

As James said in his post, Wyche doesn’t get the love that he deserves.  No the win/loss record was not good.  However, he did set Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden up for success by bringing in the likes of Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch.  One could argue that he might have had been able to enjoy some of the benefits had he remained in Tampa Bay for just a couple of more seasons.

His greatest achievement as a head coach came as the coach of the Bengals.  In the 1980’s, Wyche made the “no-huddle” offense a popular weapon to keep defenses on their toes.  To give younger fans a frame of reference, you could say there was a bit of Chip Kelly in Wyche, before Kelly came to the forefront.

All in all, great news for Wyche and for Bucs’ fans everywhere.

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