William Ernest "Bill" Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
head
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
coach of the
San Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team. The team plays its home games in San Francisco, California, while the club's headquarters and practice facility are located in Santa Clara...
and
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
, during which time he popularized the
West Coast offenseIn American football, "West Coast Offense" is one of two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play: the "Air Coryell" system; or more commonly the pass play system popularized by Bill Walsh...
.
Walsh went 102–63–1 with the 49ers, winning ten of his fourteen postseason games along with six division titles, three
NFC ChampionshipThe NFC Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the National Football Conference...
titles, and three Super Bowls. He was named the NFL's Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984.
Early career
Born in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, Walsh started his career as a running back for Hayward High School in
HaywardHayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County. The sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is one of the larger suburbs of Oakland. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 140,030. The estimated population in 2007 is 155,312. The former suburbs of Mt...
.
Walsh attended San Mateo Junior College for two years as a
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
. He then transferred to
San José State UniversitySan José State University is a public university located in San José, California, United States. It is the founding campus of the California State University system...
, where he played as a
tight endThe tight end is a position in American football on the offensive team. The tight end is sometimes the last man on the offensive line, but has a slightly different build and, in some cases, a different role than other linemen...
and a
defensive endDefensive End is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
. He also participated in intercollegiate
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
. Walsh graduated from San Jose State with a
bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in
physical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting...
in 1955. He served under Bob Bronzan as a graduate assistant coach on the
SpartansThe San José State Spartans is the name of the athletic teams representing San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Western Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division I level...
football coaching staff and graduated with a
master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in physical education from San Jose State in 1959. His master's
thesisA dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
was entitled
Defensing the Pro-Set Formation.
Following graduation, Walsh coached at
Washington High Schoolfor schools of the same nameWashington High School is one of the five Fremont, California public high schools, and was established in 1892. It is a part of the Fremont Unified School District.-History:...
in
FremontFremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs. The city is named after John Charles Frémont, "the Great Pathfinder."Fremont is located in the...
, leading the football and swim teams and coached legendary swim star Cole Caracappa.
Walsh was coaching in Fremont when he interviewed for an assistant coaching position with
Marv LevyMarvin Daniel Levy is a former American and Canadian Football coach and front office executive.He is a former professional football coach, in the CFL as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes , and in the NFL as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills , coaching the Bills to...
, who had just been hired as the head coach at the
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
.
"I was very impressed, individually, by his knowledge, by his intelligence, by his personality and hired him," Levy said.
After Cal, he did a stint at
StanfordThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
as an assistant coach, before beginning his pro coaching career.
Professional football career
Walsh began his pro coaching career in 1966 as an assistant with the
AFLThe American Football League was a major Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the established National Football League . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. As a Raider assistant, Walsh was trained in the vertical passing offense favored by
Al DavisAllen "Al" Davis is an American football executive, who currently serves as the principal owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.-Early life:Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts...
, putting Walsh in Davis' mentor
Sid GillmanSidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football coach and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, made football into the modern game that it...
's coaching tree. Walsh would later modify his own offensive philosophy to favor a predominantly horizontal passing approach.
He then moved to the AFL expansion
Cincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Their first two seasons, 1968 and 1969, were as an American Football League franchise...
in 1968, serving under
Paul BrownPaul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League. A seminal figure in football history, Brown is considered the "father of the modern offense," with many claiming that he ranks as one of the greatest of football coaches in...
for eight seasons as one of the architects of the team's offense, built around
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
Ken Anderson and
wide receiverA wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Isaac CurtisIsaac Fisher Curtis is a former professional American football wide receiver who played his entire National Football League career with the Cincinnati Bengals .-College career:...
.
When Brown retired as head coach following the
1975The 1975 NFL season was the 56th regular season of the National Football League. The league made two significant changes to increase the appeal of the game:...
season and appointed Bill "Tiger" Johnson as his successor, Walsh resigned and served as an assistant coach for
Tommy ProthroJames Thompson "Tommy" Prothro, Jr. was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels for more than 30 years....
with the
San Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are an American Professional Football team based in San Diego, California. They are currently members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League...
in
1976The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...
. In a 2006 interview
, 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."
In 1977, Walsh was hired as the head coach at
StanfordThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
where he stayed for two seasons. His two Stanford teams went 9-3 in 1977 with a win in the
Sun BowlThe Sun Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played usually at the end of December in El Paso, Texas. The game was chartered on October 18, 1934, less than 2 months before the Sugar Bowl, and has been played 75 times, making it the second oldest college bowl game...
, and 8-4 in 1978 with a win in the
Bluebonnet BowlThe Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 1959 through 1967, and again in 1985 and 1986. The game was...
; his notable players at Stanford included quarterbacks
Guy BenjaminGuy Emory Benjamin is a retired American football quarterback who played six seasons in the in the National Football League.-College career:...
and
Steve DilsStephen Whitfield "Steve" Dils is a retired American football quarterback who played 10 seasons in the in the National Football League.-College career:...
, wide receivers
James LoftonJames David Lofton is a former American football player and coach. He is a former American football coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers , Los Angeles Raiders , the Buffalo Bills...
and
Ken MargerumKenneth Margerum is a retired American football player. He currently serves as an assistant football coach at San Jose State University. Margerum has coached in several capacities at the college level, as head football coach at Menlo College , wide receivers coach at Stanford University and...
, and running back
Darrin NelsonDarrin Milo Nelson is a former professional American football player in the National Football League....
. Walsh was the Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1977.
In
1979The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams.-Major rule changes:...
, Walsh was hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The long-suffering 49ers went 2-14 in
1978The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
, the season before Walsh's arrival and repeated the same dismal record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation—but earlier in 1979, Walsh drafted quarterback
Joe MontanaFor the actor with a similarly pronounced name, see Joe Mantegna.Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr., , nicknamed Joe Cool and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player whose professional career in the National Football League spanned the late 1970s through the mid-1990s...
from
Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a private Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, Indiana, USA....
in the third round.
Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in
1980The 1980 NFL season was the 61st regular season of the National Football League.After the league declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles, the team along with the Los Angeles Coliseum sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws...
, when the 49ers improved to 6-10. San Francisco won its first championship in
1981The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
, just two years after winning two games.
Under Walsh the 49ers won
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
championships in
1981The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
,
1984The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
and
1988The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division....
. Walsh served as 49ers head coach for ten years, and during his tenure he and his coaching staff perfected the style of play known popularly as the
West Coast offenseIn American football, "West Coast Offense" is one of two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play: the "Air Coryell" system; or more commonly the pass play system popularized by Bill Walsh...
.
In addition to drafting
Joe MontanaFor the actor with a similarly pronounced name, see Joe Mantegna.Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr., , nicknamed Joe Cool and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player whose professional career in the National Football League spanned the late 1970s through the mid-1990s...
, Walsh drafted
Ronnie LottRonald Mandel "Ronnie" Lott is a former American football player who starred as a cornerback, free safety and strong safety in college football and the NFL. He is most well known for his hard hits on opposing players...
,
Charles HaleyCharles Lewis Haley is a former American football linebacker and defensive end in the National Football League who played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys . He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1986 NFL Draft out of James Madison University...
, and
Jerry RiceJerry Lee Rice is an American former football player. He is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver ever and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...
. He also traded a 2nd and 4th round pick in the 1987 draft for Steve Young. His success with the 49ers was rewarded with his election to the
Professional Football Hall of FameThe Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, United States, on September 7 1963 with 17 charter inductees...
in 1993.
1981 championship
The
1981The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
season saw Walsh lead the 49ers to a
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
championship; the team rose from the cellar to the top of the NFL in just two seasons. Four important wins during the 1981 season were two wins each over the
Los Angeles RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team has won three NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl.The Rams began...
and the
Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
. The Rams were only one year removed from a
Super BowlSuper Bowl XIV was an American football game played on January 20, 1980 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1979 regular season...
appearance, and had dominated the series with the 49ers for nearly a decade. The 49ers' two wins over the Rams in 1981 marked the shift of dominance in favor of the 49ers that lasted until the late 1990s.
In 1981, the 49ers blew out the Cowboys in week 6 of the regular season. On
Monday Night FootballMonday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...
that week, the 49ers' win was not included in the famous halftime highlights. Walsh felt that this was because the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Rams the next week in a rare 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.
The 49ers faced the Cowboys again that same season in the
NFCThe National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . The NFC was created after the league merged with the American Football League in 1970. The NFC had 13 teams that year, all of which played in the NFL before the merger...
title game. The game 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 Dwight Clark's memorable TD reception (
The CatchThe Catch refers to the winning touchdown reception by Dwight Clark off a Joe Montana pass in the January 10, 1982, NFC Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers...
), propelling Walsh to his first Super Bowl. Walsh and the 49ers defeated
CincinnatiThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Their first two seasons, 1968 and 1969, were as an American Football League franchise...
in the
Super BowlSuper Bowl XVI was an American football game played on January 24th, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan to decide the National Football League champion following the 1981 regular season. It marked the first time that a Super Bowl was held at a cold-weather city...
, which was played in
Pontiac, MichiganPontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,337. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
. 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.
Prominent assistant coaches
Many of his assistant coaches went on to be head coaches, including
George SeifertGeorge Seifert is a former NFL head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers...
,
Mike HolmgrenMichael George Holmgren is a professional football coach. He served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1992 to 1998, the Seattle Seahawks from 1999 to 2008. Prior to his career in the National Football League, Holmgren coached football at the high school and collegiate levels...
,
Mike ShanahanMichael Edward Shanahan is a former American football head coach, most recently for the Denver Broncos. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1998 and 1999...
,
Ray RhodesRaymond Earl Rhodes is the former American football head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers. He is the current assistant defensive backs coach of the Houston Texans...
, and
Dennis GreenDennis "Denny" Green is an American football head coach for the California Redwoods of the United Football League...
. These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have utilized Walsh's West Coast system. Walsh was viewed as a strong advocate for African-American head coaches in the NFL and NCAA. Along with Rhodes and Green,
Tyrone WillinghamLionel Tyrone Willingham, or Ty Willingham is the former head football coach at the University of Washington, Notre Dame, and Stanford.-Early career:...
became the head coach at Stanford, then later Notre Dame and Washington. One of Mike Shanahan's assistants,
Karl DorrellKarl Dorrell is a football coach, currently an assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. He was previously the head coach of the UCLA Bruins, the first African American head coach in the school's history.-High School:Karl attended Helix High School in La Mesa, California, where he played...
has gone on to be the head coach at UCLA. Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.
Bill Walsh coaching tree
Many former and current NFL head coaches trace their lineage back to Bill Walsh on his
coaching treeA coaching tree is similar to a family tree except it shows the relationships of coaches instead of family members. There are several different ways to define a relationship between two coaches...
:
Head coaching record
| Team | |Regular Season | SFO The 1979 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 30th year with the National Football League. The season is noted for being O.J. Simpson’s final year and Joe Montana’s first season in the NFL.-Season Standings: -References:* *...
|
1979 The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams.-Major rule changes:...
|
2 |
14 |
0 |
.125 |
4th in NFC West |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|---|
| SFO The 1980 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 31st in the National Football League. This was both Bill Walsh's and Joe Montana's second season with the team. The 49ers looked to improve on their previous output of 2-14...
|
1980 The 1980 NFL season was the 61st regular season of the National Football League.After the league declined to approve the proposed move by the Raiders from Oakland, California to Los Angeles, the team along with the Los Angeles Coliseum sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws...
|
6 |
10 |
0 |
.375 |
3rd in NFC West |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| SFO The San Francisco 49ers 1981 season was their 32nd season in the National Football League. The season was highlighted by their first Super Bowl victory. A big turning point for the franchise was the drafting of Ronnie Lott from the University of Southern California. Quarterback Joe Montana began...
|
1981 The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
|
13 |
3 |
0 |
.812 |
1st in NFC West |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
Super Bowl XVISuper Bowl XVI was an American football game played on January 24th, 1982, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan to decide the National Football League champion following the 1981 regular season. It marked the first time that a Super Bowl was held at a cold-weather city...
Champions. |
| SFO The 1982 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 33rd in the league. The team was coming off a Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. However, 1982 was strike-shortened, and only nine games were played. This season was the only one in an 18 season streak in which the 49ers did not win at...
|
1982 The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, a verdict was handed down against the league in the trial brought by the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum back in 1980...
|
3 |
6 |
0 |
.333 |
4th in NFC West |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| SFO The 1983 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 34th year with the National Football League.-NFL Draft:-Season Schedule:-NFC Divisional Playoff:* San Francisco 49ers 24, Detroit Lions 23...
|
1983 The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.-Major rule changes:...
|
10 |
6 |
0 |
.625 |
1st in NFC West |
1 |
1 |
.500 |
Lost to Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...
in NFC Championship GameThe NFL playoffs following the 1983 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XVIII.Due to Christmas, the two wild card playoff games were played in a span of three days....
. |
| SFO The San Francisco 49ers 1984 season was their 39th season in the National Football League. The season was highlighted by their second Super Bowl victory. The franchise had their best season ever with a record of 15 wins and only 1 loss...
|
1984 The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
|
15 |
1 |
0 |
.938 |
1st in NFC West |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
Super Bowl XIXSuper Bowl XIX was an American football game played on January 20, 1985 at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1984 regular season...
Champions. |
| SFO The 1985 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 36th year with the National Football League. Roger Craig achieved the rare feat of having both 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. Craig rushed for 1,050 yards, and had 1,016 receiving yards...
|
1985 The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
|
10 |
6 |
0 |
.625 |
2nd in NFC West |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
Lost to New York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The team plays its home games at Giants Stadium, which also serves as its headquarters, and trains at an adjacent practice facility within the Meadowlands Sports Complex...
in NFC Wild-Card GameThe NFL playoffs following the 1985 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XX.Because the Jets and Giants both used Giants Stadium as their home field, the two wild card playoff games were held on different days.-AFC: New England Patriots 26, New York Jets 14:...
. |
| SFO The 1986 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 37th year with the National Football League.-Season Standings: -Season Schedule:-NFC Divisional Playoff:* San Francisco 49ers 3, New York Giants 49...
|
1986 The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos.-Major rule changes:...
|
10 |
5 |
1 |
.656 |
1st in NFC West |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
Lost to New York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The team plays its home games at Giants Stadium, which also serves as its headquarters, and trains at an adjacent practice facility within the Meadowlands Sports Complex...
in NFC Divisional GameThe NFL playoffs following the 1986 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXI.Note: As per the rules of the NFL playoffs prior to the 1990 season , the New York Giants did not play the Washington Redskins in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division.-AFC: New York Jets 35,...
. |
| SFO The 1987 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 38th year with the National Football League. In the offseason, the 49ers acquired Steve Young in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.-Offseason:...
|
1987 The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4-6 were played with replacement players...
|
13 |
2 |
0 |
.867 |
1st in NFC West |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
Lost to Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional football team based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . Prior to divisional realignment in 2002, they had been a member of the Central Division, also...
in NFC Divisional GameThe NFL playoffs following the 1987 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXII.-NFC: Minnesota Vikings 44, New Orleans Saints 10:at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana*Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m...
. |
| SFO The San Francisco 49ers 1988 season was their 43rd season in the National Football League. The season was highlighted by their third Super Bowl victory. In 1988, the 49ers struggled. At one point, they were 6-5 and in danger of missing the playoffs but rose to defeat the Washington Redskins on a...
|
1988 The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division....
|
10 |
6 |
0 |
.625 |
1st in NFC West |
3 |
0 |
1.000 |
Super Bowl XXIIISuper Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
Champions. |
| SFO Total |
92 |
59 |
1 |
.609 |
|
10 |
4 |
.714 |
|
| Total |
92 |
59 |
1 |
.609 |
|
10 |
4 |
.714 |
|
Later career
After leaving the coaching ranks immediately following his team's victory in
Super Bowl XXIIISuper Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
, Walsh went to work as a broadcaster for
NBCNFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
(teaming with
Dick EnbergRichard Alan "Dick" Enberg is an American sportscaster currently employed by CBS and ESPN. His duties include National Football League and NCAA basketball telecasts on CBS and coverage of all four Grand Slam professional tennis tournaments for ESPN and ESPN2...
to form the lead broadcasting team). Walsh returned to Stanford in 1992 to once again serve as head coach for the school, leading the Cardinal to a 10-3 record and a Pacific-10 Conference co-championship. Stanford finished the season with an upset victory over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl on January 1, 1993 and a # 9 ranking in the final
AP PollThe Associated Press Poll typically refers to a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I college football and Division I college basketball teams, though other AP polls exist as well. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
. After consecutive losing seasons, Walsh left Stanford in 1994 and retired from coaching.
Walsh would also return to the 49ers, serving as Vice President and General Manager from
1999The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season...
to
2001The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...
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 to take a position at the University of the Pacific, Walsh was named interim athletic director. He also acted as a consultant for his alma mater
San Jose State UniversitySan José State University is a public university located in San José, California, United States. It is the founding campus of the California State University system...
in their search for an Athletic Director and Head Football Coach in 2005.
Bill Walsh was also the author of two books, a motivational speaker, and taught classes at the
Stanford Graduate School of BusinessThe Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California...
.
Illness
Walsh was diagnosed with
leukemiaLeukemia is a cancer of the blood or bone marrow and is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood cells, usually white blood cells . Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in 2004. In November 2006, he confirmed that he was undergoing treatment for the illness. "News about me has been circulating," he said. "It's been getting back to me." "There are too many people following the progress of this. I felt it was appropriate to confirm what's happening. I hope now that I have done that, the media will refrain from phoning me. I'm pragmatically doing everything my physicians recommend and I'm working my way through it," Walsh said. In early 2007 Walsh's former broadcasting partner, Dick Enberg, reported that Walsh had told him the cancer was in remission.
Death
Bill Walsh died of leukemia at 10:45 am on July 30, 2007 at his home in
Woodside, CaliforniaWoodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It uses a council-manager system of government.Woodside is among the wealthiest communities in the world....
. Following Walsh's death, the playing field at
Candlestick ParkCandlestick Park is an outdoor sports and entertainment stadium located in San Francisco, California. The stadium was originally built as the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 until moving into Pacific Bell Park in 2000...
was renamed "Bill Walsh Field". Additionally, the regular
San Jose StateThe San Jose State Spartans represent San Jose State University and the Silicon Valley in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The Spartans play all home games in Spartan Stadium, which offers a seating capacity of over 30,000...
vs. Stanford football game was renamed the "Bill Walsh Legacy Game".
Books
- Bill Walsh and Glenn Dickey, Building a Champion: On Football and the Making of the 49ers. St Martin's Press, 1990. (ISBN 0-312-04969-2).
- Bill Walsh, Brian Billick and James A. Peterson, Finding the Winning Edge. Sports Publishing, 1998. (ISBN 1-571-67172-2).
External links