Buccaneers, Wyche Have Had Enough : Pro football: Tampa Bay says both sides agree that a change is necessary after the coach has a 23-41 record in four seasons.

Sam Wyche thanked the fans and his players before giving himself a pat on the back and walking out the door.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers said the parting was by mutual agreement Wednesday. The coach’s 23-41 record in four seasons with the team that has lost more games than any in the NFL over the last 20 seasons suggested neither side really had a choice.

The dismissal came one day after the Arizona Cardinals fired Buddy Ryan, whom the Buccaneers snubbed in 1992 to hire Wyche because of his reputation as a motivator and offensive innovator who had taken Cincinnati to a Super Bowl.

Although Tampa Bay won more than six games for the first time in 14 years, this season’s 7-9 record was not as encouraging as it might appear because the team played so poorly the second half of the season.

After winning five of their first seven games, the Buccaneers lost seven of the last nine. The slide assured the franchise’s 13th consecutive losing record and 17th in 20 seasons.

“Our feeling was if this was going to take place, it was better to take place now than to take place in three weeks, or whenever, because there would be a lot of speculation concerning what may or may not happen,” Rich McKay, general manager, said. “We have made giant strides.”

The Buccaneers haven’t finished with a winning record or made the playoffs since going 5-4 during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The 1995 team remained in contention for a postseason berth until the 15th game, despite the second-half nose dive.

Despite his record, Wyche departed with the best winning percentage (.359) of any coach in team history.

He declined to answer questions at a news conference, but did use the platform to thank fans and players for their support before predicting success in on the horizon for the Buccaneers.

“This team is far better than it was four years ago when we started,” Wyche said. “A couple of good things happen this year and we would be feeling a lot different right now.”

Early speculation about a replacement centers around Florida’s Steve Spurrier and former Dallas Cowboy coach Jimmy Johnson.

“You try to make these decisions based on some research and based on some effort as opposed just saying, ‘I want Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardi or whoever it may be,’ ” McKay said. “I’m sure in the media, there will be a lot of speculation about this coach and that coach. We’ll try to stay away from that and focus on making sure we get the best coach for this football team.”