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Ex-NFL coach Sam Wyche in hospital, awaiting heart transplant

Former Bengals and Buccaneers head coach Sam Wyche is awaiting a heart transplant.
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Former Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Sam Wyche is in a North Carolina hospital as he awaits a transplant for his heart.

Wyche, 71, detailed his condition on his website.

"I am in Carolinas Medical Center's Dickson Heart Unit in Charlotte, NC awaiting donor heart transplant," Wyche wrote. "If there is no match for a donor heart in the next few days, I will need to have an LVAD [Left Ventricular Assist Device, an artificial heart pump] implanted below my heart until a donor heart can be obtained. I have outstanding Sanger Clinic physicians and hospital staff taking care of me."

Wyche coached the Bengals from 1984 to 1991 and led the Buccaneers from 1992 to 1995. Wyche led the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 20–16.

Wyche was also the head coach at Indiana University for one season in 1983 before being hired by the Bengals. He had an 84–107 record in 12 seasons as an NFL head coach.

- Scooby Axson