Former NFL coach Sam Wyche awaits heart transplant

Former NFL coach Sam Wyche is awaiting a heart transplant in a Charlotte, N.C., hospital.

"I am in Carolinas Medical Center's Dickson Heart Unit in Charlotte, NC awaiting donor heart transplant," the 71-year-old Wyche announced in a recent post on his personal website and Facebook. "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 which is 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, who was known for introducing the use of the no-huddle offense, took the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance in 1989, losing to the Joe Montana-led San Francisco 49ers 20-16.

Wyche also was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the mid-1990s. He spent time as a color commentator and studio analyst and was quarterbacks coach with the Buffalo Bills in 2004-05.

Wyche described waiting for a heart transplant in sports terms.

"You got the bases loaded, one out and you got to the championship and it's up to you to hit the ball," Wyche told Stephanie Towers of WYFF in Greenville, S.C., in a telephone interview.

Wyche said he is staying active, walking 24 laps around the floor of the hospital -- where Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson had a heart transplant in 2009.

"I can't run away, I've got a bunch of wires and tubes and stuff stuck all in me, so just waiting on a heart," Wyche told the TV station.

Wyche lives in South Carolina and has worked as a volunteer coach at Pickens High School. He is in the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, S.C. Football Hall of Fame and Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame.