Full Circle

Coaching didn’t appear to be in the cards for Sam Wyche when he took his bonus money from playing in Super Bowl VII with the Washington Redskins and invested in a sporting goods business. Legendary NFL coach and owner Paul Brown had already told Wyche, a career backup quarterback, that he would be a coach someday, but Wyche’s original investment took off and soon grew to 13 retail and wholesale stores in North and South Carolina. Wyche even put his MBA to good use with the chain for about two years before a desire to return to the game just happened to coincide with a call from an old friend. It was Bill Walsh calling to tell Wyche he was about to become the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and offering Wyche a chance to join him as an assistant coach in charge of quarterbacks. “I immediately thought that would be a good idea,” Wyche says. “The funny thing is, just a few