 Walsh at San Jose State in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1931-11-30)November 30, 1931 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 30, 2007(2007-07-30) (aged 75) Woodside, California, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Hayward (CA) |
| College | San Jose State |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| |
Operations | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season | NFL: 92–59–1 (.609) NCAA: 34–24–1 (.585) |
| Postseason | 10–4 (.714) |
| Career | NFL: 102–63–1 (.617) NCAA: 34–24–1 (.585) |
| Coaching profile atPro Football Reference | |
William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an American professional and collegefootball coach. He served as head coach of theSan Francisco 49ers and theStanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized theWest Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons.
Walsh went 102–63–1 (wins-losses-ties) with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles, threeNFC Championship titles, and threeSuper Bowls. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984. In 1993, he was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame. He is widely considered amongst the greatest coaches in NFL history.
Walsh was born in Fremont, California. He attendedHayward High School inHayward in theSan Francisco Bay Area, where he played running back.[1]Walsh playedquarterback at theCollege of San Mateo for two seasons. (BothJohn Madden and Walsh played and coached at the College of San Mateo early in their careers.) After playing at the College of San Mateo, Walsh transferred toSan José State University, where he playedtight end anddefensive end.[2][3] He also participated in intercollegiateboxing, winning the golden glove.
Walsh graduated from San Jose State with abachelor's degree inphysical education in 1955. After two years in theU.S. Army participating on their boxing team,[4] Walsh built a championship team atWashington High School inFremont before becoming an assistant coach atCal,Stanford and then theOakland Raiders in 1966.[5]
He served under Bob Bronzan as a graduate assistant coach on theSpartans football coaching staff and graduated with amaster's degree in physical education from San Jose State in 1959.[6] His master'sthesis was entitledFlank Formation Football -- Stress: Defense. Thesis 796.W228f.[7]
Following graduation, Walsh coached the football and swim teams atWashington High School inFremont, California. While there he interviewed for an assistant coaching position with the new head coach of theUniversity of California, BerkeleyCalifornia Golden Bears football team,Marv Levy.
"I was very impressed, individually, by his knowledge, by his intelligence, by his personality, and hired him," Levy said. Levy and Walsh, two future NFL Hall of Famers, would never produce a winning season for the Golden Bears.
Leaving Berkeley, Walsh did a stint atStanford University as an assistant coach of itsCardinal football team before beginning his pro coaching career.
Walsh began his pro coaching career in1966 as an assistant with theAFL'sOakland Raiders. There he was versed in the downfield-oriented "vertical" passing offense favored byAl Davis, an acolyte ofSid Gillman.
Walsh left the Raiders the next year to become the head coach and general manager of theSan Jose Apaches of theContinental Football League (CFL). He led the Apaches to second place in the Pacific Division, but the team ceased all football operations prior to the start of the 1968 CFL season.
In1968, Walsh joined the staff of head coachPaul Brown of the AFL expansionCincinnati Bengals, where he coached wide receivers from 1968 to 1970. It was there that Walsh developed the philosophy now known as the "West Coast offense". Cincinnati's newquarterback,Virgil Carter, was known for his great mobility and accuracy but lacked a strong arm necessary to throw deep passes. To suit his strengths, Walsh suggested a modification of the downfield based "vertical passing scheme" he had learned during his time with the Raiders with one featuring a "horizontal" approach that relied on quick, short throws, often spreading the ball across the entire width of the field.[8] In 1971 Walsh was given the additional responsibility of coaching the quarterbacks, and Carter went on to lead the league in pass completion percentage.
Ken Anderson eventually replaced Carter as starting quarterback, and, together with starwide receiverIsaac Curtis, produced a consistent, effective offensive attack.
When Brown retired as head coach following the1975 season and appointedBill "Tiger" Johnson as his successor, Walsh resigned and served as an assistant coach in1976 for theSan Diego Chargers under head coachTommy Prothro. In a 2006 interview,[9] Walsh claimed that during his tenure with the Bengals, Brown "worked against my candidacy" to be a head coach anywhere in the league. "All the way through I had opportunities, and I never knew about them", Walsh said. "And then when I left him, he called whoever he thought was necessary to keep me out of the NFL." Walsh also claimed that Brown kept talking him down any time Brown was called by NFL teams considering hiring Walsh as a head coach.
In 1977, Walsh was hired byStanford University as the head coach of itsCardinal football team, where he stayed for two seasons. He was quite successful, with his teams posting a 9–3 record in 1977 with a win in theSun Bowl, and going 8–4 in 1978 with a win in theBluebonnet Bowl. His notable players at Stanford included quarterbacksGuy Benjamin,Steve Dils, wide receiversJames Lofton andKen Margerum, linebackerGordy Ceresino, and running backDarrin Nelson. Walsh was thePac-8 Conference Coach of the Year in 1977.
On January 9, 1979, Walsh resigned as head coach at Stanford, andSan Francisco 49ers team ownerEdward J. DeBartolo, Jr. fired head coachFred O'Connor and general managerJoe Thomas following a 2–14 in1978 season.[10] Walsh was appointed head coach of the 49ers the next day.
The 49ers went 2-14 again in1979. Hidden behind that record were organizational changes made by Walsh that set the team on a better course, including selectingNotre Dame quarterbackJoe Montana in the third round of the1979 NFL draft.
In1980, starting quarterbackSteve DeBerg got the 49ers off to a 3–0 start, but after a week 6 blowout loss to theDallas Cowboys by a score of 59–14, Walsh gave Montana a chance to start. On December 7 vs. theNew Orleans Saints, the second-year player brought the 49ers back from a 35–7 halftime deficit to a 38–35 overtime win. In spite of this switch, the team struggled to a 6–10 finish – a record that belied a championship team in the making.
In1981, Walsh's efforts as head coach led the team to a 13–3 regular season. The 13 wins were a franchise record at the time, and were three more than they had won in the previous three seasons combined. Key victories were two wins each over theLos Angeles Rams and theDallas Cowboys. The Rams were only two seasons removed from aSuper Bowl appearance, and had dominated the series with the 49ers since 1967, winning 23, losing 3 and tying 1. San Francisco's two wins over the Rams in 1981 marked the shift of dominance in favor of the 49ers that lasted until 1998 with 30 wins (including 17 consecutively) against only 6 defeats. The 49ers blew out the Cowboys in week 6 of the regular season. OnMonday Night Football that week, the win was not included in the halftime highlights. Walsh felt that this was because the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Rams the next week in a Sunday night game and that showing the highlights of the 49ers' win would potentially hurt the game's ratings. However, Walsh used this as a motivating factor for his team, who felt they were disrespected.[11]
The 49ers faced the Cowboys again in theNFC title game. The contest was very close, and in the fourth quarter Walsh called a series of running plays as the 49ers marched down the field against the Cowboys' prevent defense, which had been expecting the 49ers to mainly pass. The 49ers came from behind to win the game on Joe Montana's pass completion to Dwight Clark for a touchdown, a play that came to be known simply asThe Catch, propelling Walsh to his first appearance in a Super Bowl. Walsh would later write that the 49ers' two wins over the Rams showed a shift of power in their division, while the wins over the Cowboys showed a shift of power in the conference.
Two weeks later, on January 24, 1982, San Francisco faced theCincinnati Bengals inSuper Bowl XVI, winning 26–21 for the team's first NFL championship. Only a year removed from back-to-back two-win seasons, the 49ers had risen from the cellar to the top of the NFL in just two seasons. What came to be known as theWest Coast offense developed by Walsh[12] had proven a winner.
In all, Walsh served as 49ers head coach for 10 years, winning three Super Bowl championships, in the1981,1984, and1988 seasons, and establishing a new NFL record.
Walsh had a disciplined approach to game-planning, famously scripting the first 10–15 offensive plays before the start of each game. His innovative play calling and design earned him the nickname "The Genius". In the ten-year span under Walsh, San Francisco scored 3,714 points (24.4 per game), the most of any team in the league.[13]
In addition toJoe Montana, Walsh draftedRonnie Lott,Charles Haley, andJerry Rice, each one going on to thePro Football Hall of Fame. He also traded a 2nd and 4th round pick in the1987 draft forSteve Young, who took over from Montana, led the team to Super Bowl success, and was enshrined in Canton after his playing career. Walsh's success at every level of football, especially with the 49ers, earned him his own ticket to Canton in 1993.
On January 22, 1989, Walsh coached his final game with the 49ers, the memorableSuper Bowl XXIII in which San Francisco beat Cincinnati 20–16. Walsh resigned as the 49ers head coach after the game. Walsh admitted years later that he immediately regretted the decision saying that he left too soon.[14]
Walsh's uplinecoaching tree included working as assistant forAmerican Football League great and Hall of Fame head coachAl Davis andNFL legend and Hall of FamerPaul Brown, and, through Davis, AFL great and Hall of Fame head coachSid Gillman of the then AFLLos Angeles/San Diego Chargers.
Tree updated through December 9, 2015.[15]
Many Walsh assistants went on to become head coaches,[16] includingGeorge Seifert,Mike Holmgren,Ray Rhodes, andDennis Green. Seifert succeeded Walsh as 49ers head coach, and guided San Francisco to victories inSuper Bowl XXIV andSuper Bowl XXIX. Holmgren won aSuper Bowl with theGreen Bay Packers, and made 3 Super Bowl appearances as a head coach: 2 with the Packers, and another with theSeattle Seahawks. These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have used Walsh's West Coast system, such as formerDenver Broncos head coachMike Shanahan and formerHouston Texans head coachGary Kubiak. Mike Shanahan was an offensive coordinator underGeorge Seifert and went on to winSuper Bowl XXXII andSuper Bowl XXXIII during his time as head coach of theDenver Broncos. Kubiak was first aquarterback coach with the 49ers, and thenoffensive coordinator for Shanahan with the Broncos. In 2015, he became the Broncos' head coach and led Denver to victory inSuper Bowl 50.Dennis Green trainedTony Dungy, who won aSuper Bowl with theIndianapolis Colts, andBrian Billick with his brother-in law and linebackers coachMike Smith. Billick won aSuper Bowl as head coach of theBaltimore Ravens.
Mike Holmgren trained many of his assistants to become head coaches, includingJon Gruden andAndy Reid. Gruden won aSuper Bowl with theTampa Bay Buccaneers. Reid served as head coach of thePhiladelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012, and guided the Eagles to multiple winning seasons and numerous playoff appearances, including 1 Super Bowl appearance. Ever since 2013, Reid has served as head coach of theKansas City Chiefs. He was finally able to win a Super Bowl, when his Chiefs defeated theSan Francisco 49ers inSuper Bowl LIV, and two consecutive when his Chiefs defeated the Eagles inSuper Bowl LVII and theSan Francisco 49ers inSuper Bowl LVIII. In addition to this,Marc Trestman, former head coach of theChicago Bears, served as offensive coordinator under Seifert in the 90's. Gruden himself would trainMike Tomlin, who led thePittsburgh Steelers to theirsixth Super Bowl championship, andJim Harbaugh, whose 49ers would face his brother,John Harbaugh, whom Reid himself trained, and theBaltimore Ravens atSuper Bowl XLVII, which marked the Ravens' second World Championship.
Bill Walsh was viewed as a strong advocate for African-American head coaches in the NFL and NCAA.[17] Thus, the impact of Walsh also changed the NFL into an equal opportunity for African-American coaches. Along withRay Rhodes andDennis Green,Tyrone Willingham became the head coach at Stanford, then laterNotre Dame and Washington. One ofMike Shanahan's assistants,Karl Dorrell, went on to be the head coach atUCLA. Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.
After leaving the coaching ranks immediately following his team's victory inSuper Bowl XXIII, Walsh went to work as a broadcaster forNBC, teaming withDick Enberg to form the lead broadcasting team, replacingMerlin Olsen.
During his time with NBC, rumors began to surface that Walsh would coach again in the NFL. There were at least two known instances.
First, according to a February 2015 article byMike Florio of NBC Sports,after a 5–11 season in 1989, the Patriots firedRaymond Berry and unsuccessfully attempted to lure Walsh to Foxborough to become head coach and general manager. When that failed, New England promoted defensive coordinatorRod Rust; the teamsplit its first two games and then lost 14 straight in 1990.[18]
Second, late in the 1990 season, Walsh was rumored to becomeTampa Bay's next head coach and general manager after the team firedRay Perkins and promotedRichard Williamson on an interim basis. Part of the speculation was fueled by the fact that Walsh's contract with NBC, which ran for 1989 and 1990, would soon be up for renewal, to say nothing of the pressureHugh Culverhouse faced to increase fan support and to fill the seats atTampa Stadium. However, less than a week afterSuper Bowl XXV, Walsh not only declined Tampa Bay's offer, but he and NBC agreed on a contract extension. Walsh would continue in his role with NBC for 1991.[19] Meanwhile, after unsuccessfully courting then-recently fired Eagles coachBuddy Ryan or Giants then-defensive coordinatorBill Belichick to man the sidelines for Tampa Bay in 1991, the Bucs stuck with Williamson. Under Williamson's leadership,Tampa Bay won only three games in 1991.
On January 15, 1992, Walsh agreed to return to Stanford to serve as their head coach with a five-year contract with an annual salary of $350,000 to replaceDennis Green; he immediately namedTerry Shea as offensive coordinator.[20] That year, he led the Cardinal to a 10–3 record and aPacific-10 Conference co-championship; it was the first conference championship for the program since 1971. Stanford finished the season with a victory overPenn State in theBlockbuster Bowl on January 1, 1993, and a #9 ranking in the finalAP Poll. In November 1994, after consecutive losing seasons, Walsh left Stanford and retired from coaching.[21]
In 1996, Walsh returned to the 49ers as an administrative aide.[22] Walsh was the vice president and general manager for the 49ers from1999 to2001 and was a special consultant to the team for three years afterwards.
In 2004, Walsh was appointed as special assistant to the athletic director at Stanford. In 2005, after then-athletic director Ted Leland stepped down, Walsh was named interim athletic director. He also acted as a consultant for his alma materSan Jose State University in their search for an athletic director and Head Football Coach in 2005.
Walsh was also the author of three books, a motivational speaker, and taught classes at theStanford Graduate School of Business.
Walsh was a board member for theLott IMPACT Trophy, which is named afterPro Football Hall of Fame defensive backRonnie Lott, and is awarded annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Walsh served as a keynote speaker at the award's banquet.[23]
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Bill married his college sweetheart Geri, and had 3 children; Steve, Craig and Elizabeth.
Bill Walsh died of leukemia on July 30, 2007, at his home inWoodside, California.[1]
Following Walsh's death, the playing field at the formerCandlestick Park was renamed "Bill Walsh Field".[28] Additionally, the regularSan Jose State versus Stanford football game was renamed the "Bill Walsh Legacy Game".[29]Super Bowl XLII was also dedicated to Walsh's memory; at the end of the player introduction ceremonies, his son, Craig, accompanied byRonnie Lott,Jerry Rice andSteve Young, performed the ceremonialcoin toss withNew York Giants captainMichael Strahan, playing his final careerNFL game, calling the toss on behalf of his Giants co-captains and theNew England Patriots' captains.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford Cardinal(Pacific-8/Pacific-10 Conference)(1977–1978) | |||||||||
| 1977 | Stanford | 9–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | WSun | 15 | 15 | ||
| 1978 | Stanford | 8–4 | 4–3 | T–4th | WAstro-Bluebonnet | 16 | 17 | ||
| Stanford Cardinal(Pacific-10 Conference)(1992–1994) | |||||||||
| 1992 | Stanford | 10–3 | 6–2 | T–1st | WBlockbuster | 9 | 9 | ||
| 1993 | Stanford | 4–7 | 2–6 | T–8th | |||||
| 1994 | Stanford | 3–7–1 | 2–6 | T–8th | |||||
| Stanford: | 34–24–1 | 19–19 | |||||||
| Total: | 34–24–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| SF | 1979 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 4th in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 1980 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 3rd in NFC West | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 1981 | 13 | 3 | 0 | .812 | 1st in NFC West | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Super Bowl XVI champions |
| SF | 1982 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 11th in NFC | — | — | — | — |
| SF | 1983 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 1st in NFC West | 1 | 1 | .500 | Lost toWashington Redskins inNFC Championship Game |
| SF | 1984 | 15 | 1 | 0 | .938 | 1st in NFC West | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Super Bowl XIX champions |
| SF | 1985 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 2nd in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toNew York Giants inNFC Wild Card Game |
| SF | 1986 | 10 | 5 | 1 | .656 | 1st in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toNew York Giants inNFC Divisional Game |
| SF | 1987 | 13 | 2 | 0 | .867 | 1st in NFC West | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost toMinnesota Vikings inNFC Divisional Game |
| SF | 1988 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 1st in NFC West | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | Super Bowl XXIII champions |
| SF Total | 92 | 59 | 1 | .609 | 10 | 4 | .714 | |||
| Total[30] | 92 | 59 | 1 | .609 | 10 | 4 | .714 | |||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Preceded by | NFL on NBC lead analyst 1989–1991 | Succeeded by |
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