Legendary NFL Coach Bill Walsh Dies
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
I was thinking about Bill Walsh just the other day. I knew he had been ill for several years and I guess I feared the end wasn’t far off. On this 30th day of July, 2007, Coach Walsh finally lost his three-year battle with leukemia at 75-years-old.
I never had the chance to speak with Coach Walsh and while I am quite comfortable talking to any NFL player or coach, past or present, I think he would have been one of the few to actually intimidate me. I put him in the same category as Vince Lombardi. He’s someone who knew football far better than I ever will — a mastermind of the game, if you will. And I feel any football question I would’ve come up with wouldn’t have been good enough.
I’m old enough to remember Coach Walsh on the San Francisco 49ers sideline. In fact, he’s who I still think of when I think of the 49ers — Coach Walsh, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young. He built a dynasty with his creative schemes that became known as the “West Coast offense.” And so many followed. The “family tree” — so to speak — that emerged from his tutelage boggles the mind: George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes, Bruce Coslet, Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci, Jeff Fisher and others. When you think of the impact he had on the game we know today, and how he changed the game in such a short amount of time, it’s most impressive.
What I didn’t realize (or just hasn’t thought about) was that Coach Walsh never became an NFL coach until he was 47-years-old. He spent just 10 years as the head coach of the Niners. But those years are ingrained in my memory as THE years that gave the 49ers their identity. Any fan of not only the Niners, but the entire NFL, will undoubtedly look at the Coach Walsh era as one of the greatest in the history of the game.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made this statement today regarding Coach Walsh:
“His Hall of Fame coaching accomplishments speak for themselves, but the essence of Bill Walsh was that he was an extraordinary teacher. If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom. He taught all of us not only about football but also about life and how it takes teamwork for any of us to succeed as individuals. He helped the league on many important initiatives, from improving opportunities for minorities in coaching and the front office to our executive training and international development programs. Bill Walsh was a mentor to me and many others. He revolutionized the game with his ‘West Coast Offense’ and will always be remembered as one of the most influential people in NFL history.”
With Hall of Fame weekend fast approaching, I should mention that Coach Walsh was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame back in 1993. He will certainly be missed and my thoughts are with his family and those who knew him well, not only as a respected coach, but as a caring family man, father figure, mentor and friend.
Tags: bill-walsh, San Francisco 49ersRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Pro Football HOF
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