Former 49er head coach Bill Walsh dies — This outstanding obit is one of the few that mentions the fact that that Walsh began his career as the head coach of Washington High (Fremont, California). Go Huskies.
Bill Walsh, the imaginative and charismatic coach who took over a downtrodden 49ers team and built one of the greatest franchises in NFL history, has died at the age of 75.
A master of using short, precisely timed passes to control the ball in what became known as the West Coast offense, he guided the team to three Super Bowl championships and six NFC West division titles in his 10 years as head coach.
The 49ers had been wrecked by mismanagement and unwise personnel decisions under former general manager Joe Thomas when owner Ed DeBartolo Jr. cleaned house in 1979. Walsh, who had led Stanford to two bowl victories in two seasons as head coach, took a 49ers team that had finished 2-14 in 1978 and built a Super Bowl champion in just three years. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in professional sports history.
Wow. Just wow. Incredible loss. Great man. Many don’t know that he spent years caring for his wife who was very ill. In fact, I believe that is the (or one of) reason he finally decided to retire from the 49ers. I was never a 49er fan but I couldn’t help but have the utmost respect for Walsh. Sad loss.
Heck of a football coach. Sad.
One of the few greats as both a man and a coach, Walsh belongs in that big hall of fame in the sky with Lomabardi and Landry (even though I’ll never get over Dwight Clark’s “The Catch”) Hat’s off today for you, Coach.
http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=224
[sarcasm]Perhaps not as important as an American football coach,[/sarcasm] but Ingmar Bergman also passed away.
They said at one point most football coaches in the NFL could trace their coaching tree to Walsh or Parcells. Pretty incredible to have that kind of influence.
Jagermeister…come on.
Hey Jägermeister, [sarcasm]since film direction is soooo much more important than American football[/sarcasm], you may have heard that Bill Walsh just passed away.
How friggin’ inappropriate can you be… what a troll.
Hey Jägermeister, [sarcasm]perhaps not as imporatnt as film direction[/sarcasm], but Bill Walsh also passed away.
Will you please take your inappropriateness elsewhere now? Thanks much.