It was Dec. 23, 1995, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had just lost their season finale to the Detroit Lions, 37-10. As the press assembled in the media room, everyone knew Sam Wyche would not be the head coach of the Buccaneers by the next morning. Even Wyche knew.
That’s why the scene I’m about to describe is both hilarious and sad. As the media room filled up, I noticed the look on the face of the Bucs’ director of public relations. A nervous type to begin with, he looked even more so as he stood guard at the door from the media room to the locker room. He had good reason to be nervous. Wyche just told him to not open the door to the locker room until he had finished speaking.
What happened next is the stuff of media lore. Wyche’s meltdown was the worst I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve covered the NFL since 1993. But Wyche is far from a singular figure in this regard. Many other NFL coaches have undergone severe public meltdowns. Let’s take a look at eight of the biggest coaching outbursts in NFL history.
8. Sam Wyche lost it for 40 minutes
The rule in the NFL is that the door to the locker room is open to the media 10 minutes after the coach begins his press conference. On that day in 1995, the rule was broken badly. Wyche, the Tampa Bay coach for just a few more hours, firmly instructed the public relations director to keep the door to the locker room shut until he was done with the media. What followed was 40 minutes of craziness.
Wyche started by saying something like, “Yeah, we lost a game today. But that’s not important. What is important is that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and then we’ll celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.”
Then, Wyche paused briefly, apparently realizing that the Glazer family, which had just bought the team, is Jewish.
Wyche then picked it back up and said something along the lines of, “And to our friends in the Jewish community, Happy Hanukkah.”
Then it got bizarre, as Wyche yelled at a reporter for yawning, yelled at another for laughing (even though the reporter never laughed) and it just kept going on. And on. For 40 incoherent minutes.
When it was over and the locker room door finally opened, most of the players were gone. Except for quarterback Trent Dilfer. He appeared to be waiting at his locker for the media to approach. As Gary Shelton, the great columnist for The St. Petersburg Times and I approached, Dilfer rolled his eyes.
“Barnum and Bailey,” Dilfer said.
Dilfer was right. Children of all ages, welcome to the circus.
7. Bill Callahan calls the Raiders dumb
In 2003, the coach of the Oakland Raiders was so frustrated with his players that he called them the “dumbest team in America.” He had his reasons for what he said. But a coach should never call his team dumb, because by extension, that means the coach also must be dumb.
6. Mike Ditka in a bad mood
Even when he was winning a lot in Chicago, the emotional Ditka had frequent meltdowns in Chicago. It got worse in New Orleans, when he coached bad teams. In this clip, which lasts just over a minute, Ditka goes on a rampage.
5. Jerry Burns angry after a win
On Nov. 5, 1989, Minnesota defeated the Rams in overtime. Still, that didn’t make Vikings coach Jerry Burns happy. He went on an expletive-driven tirade. The language is so harsh that we won’t run the video, but here’s an edited transcript of Burns’ meltdown:
4. Bruce Arians gets a little delusional
After Sunday’s loss to Tennessee, Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians went out of his way to tell the media that Jameis Winston’s two interceptions weren’t the quarterback’s fault. Instead, Arians blamed the wide receivers. There might have been some truth to that. But every interception is in some way the quarterback’s fault, because he’s the one throwing the ball. Besides, it’s time for Arians to stop coddling Winston.
3. Herman Edwards unplugged
When Edwards worked as a broadcaster, he was composed and insightful. It wasn’t always that way when he coached the New York Jets. In this infamous clip from 2002, he was over the edge and not making a great deal of sense.
2 . Jim Mora and “playoffs?”
This one is one of the more legendary meltdowns ever. The coach of the Indianapolis Colts was already irritated by a third consecutive loss, but he lost it when a reporter asked about his 4-6 team’s playoff chances.
1. Dennis Green’s moment of infamy
There is no meltdown more famous than the one Green had as coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 2006. On the heels of a loss to Chicago that dropped his team to 1-5, he exploded and began screaming, “the Bears are who we thought they were.”
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
