R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Very sad news...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...G57LR8OK21.DTL

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

holy [censored], just heard this

R.I.P.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

WFAN Just reported this. Football lost a good one today.

RIP

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Man this sucks. He was part of my youth - Niners dynasty, Walsh on the sidelines, Madden and Summerall calling all those huge games on CBS - usually some combination of the Niners, Redskins, and Cowboys. Very sad.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Yeah, tough one. He was doing really poorly the last few months. He really fought it with everything he had.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

saddest death in a long time. I will have the memories forever.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I was a fan when he came to Stanford because I think most young kids think handing off is boring and Stanford actually threw the ball.

When he came to the Niners, I thought he was going to snag Guy Benjamin and they were going to lead them to the promised land [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

Loved the press conferences early in the week when they were going to play some crap team like Tampa and Walsh would say, "Oh, they're very capable of causing us problems..." and the writers laugh at him.

And who can forget dressing up as a bellhop before SB XVI to keep the team loose?

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/200...p_niners02.jpg

RIP Bill.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Dang, I heard he was sick but...

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

It's possible only those of us old enough to have been Niner fans prior to his arrival in San Francisco can appreciate how incredible he was. Upon hearing the news of his passing I began thinking about all of the great memories he and his teams provided me. They include:

- Week 6, 1981. The young Niners, with the newly acquired Fred Dean wreaking havoc, steamroll the visiting Cowboys 45-14. When the game doesn't even get a mention on the Monday night football highlight package, Walsh rips Howard Cosell and the "NFL elite" for slighting his upstart team. He was serving notice that his team, the laughingstocks of the league just two years earlier were going to be a force to be reckoned with.

- NFC Championship game 1981 - Of course there was The Catch, but the play that goes overlooked is the tackle that Eric Wright made on Drew Pearson as the Cowboys tried to come back in the waning seconds of the game. If Wright doesn't grab Pearson by the back of the jersey and pull him down, maybe the history of football in the Eighties is quite different.

- Super Bowl XVI. The sight of Walsh hugging Eddie Debartolo and sobbing openly after the Lombardi trophy was presented was something that will always stay with me. Clearly this was the culmination of a lifetime in football, and a moment that even a few years earlier he had all but given up hope of experiencing.

- Week 2, 1987. The Niners score on the last play of the game vs the Bengals after an unbelievable coaching gaffe by Sam Wyche. A giddy Walsh literally skipped off the field sporting a smile as big as the Cheshire cat.

- NFC Championship game, 1988. The Bears had defense had manhandled the Niners in a Monday night game earlier in the year, so Niner fans were not optimistic when they heard that the wind chill temperatures for the game would be somewhere around -30F or so. Walsh's game plan on offense was perfect and the defense made Jim McMahon look horrible as the "finesee" team destroyed Chicago in an easy 28-3 win. After 3 years of playoff disappointments, this was probably the most surprising (and satisfying) win of the Eighties for the Niner faithful.

- Super Bowl XXIII - Looking at and listening to Walsh after the game, which featured yet another last minute comeback drive, I could tell that this was probably his last game as coach and was filled with a sense of dread and sadness. As one who remembered how hopeless our team was prior to his arrival, it wasn't clear if the team's success would continue without him. Luckily his system (both on and off the field) survived him, and the Niners would add two more championships and a decade of continued success as a direct result of his ten years in scarlet and gold.

I am sad today to think that he is gone, but happy to remember a man who brought me so much joy.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

bill walsh revolutionized the game of football

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Wow, tragic loss. RIP

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

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bill walsh revolutionized the game of football

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There's some good info/commentary on Walsh in Michael Lewis's book on football.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

http://www.photoshelter.com/img/about/walsh.jpg
Sad Day.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

At least he will be able to join his son Adam in heaven.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

4 superbowl titles. Even with the stack teams he did have, it is hard not to say he is one of the best coaches of all time.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

The single most influential person in football over the last 30 years.

Give'em hell up there, Bill.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

I was at the last game he coached.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
bill walsh revolutionized the game of football

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There's some good info/commentary on Walsh in Michael Lewis's book on football.

[/ QUOTE ]

Definately. I'm a Niners fan but was a little too young to appreciate just how much Walsh did to revolutionize the franchise and teh game itself until I read "The Blind Side." I think any niner fan (or football fan in general) should pick it up.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
Man this sucks. He was part of my youth - Niners dynasty, Walsh on the sidelines, Madden and Summerall calling all those huge games on CBS - usually some combination of the Niners, Redskins, and Cowboys. Very sad.

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yep same here

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Petition for 2007 49ers to wear throwbacks in honor of Mr. Walsh:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Walsh/petition.html

600+ and counting

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
It's possible only those of us old enough to have been Niner fans prior to his arrival in San Francisco can appreciate how incredible he was.


- NFC Championship game 1981 - Of course there was The Catch, but the play that goes overlooked is the tackle that Eric Wright made on Drew Pearson as the Cowboys tried to come back in the waning seconds of the game. If Wright doesn't grab Pearson by the back of the jersey and pull him down, maybe the history of football in the Eighties is quite different.



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Absolutely goddamn right. The Wright tackle might be the most overlooked play in the history of team sports. I've almost never seen, read or heard it mentioned; it often doesn't even make rebroadcasts of the game.

The first Niners game I remember is the '72 Divisional where Staubach got two TD's in the last 2:02 to beat 'em 30-28. And of course they'd lost the previous two NFC Championship games to Dallas, as well.

Then they were [censored], winning only four games in the two seasons before he was hired, then two his first year, then 6-10.

Then Walsh takes a 3rd round QB, three rookie DB's, a discarded Hacksaw Reynolds & disgruntled Fred Dean, and a bunch of no names and wins the [censored] Superbowlament! Never forget that goal line stand (Dan Bunz FTW) or Ray Wersching's 'pooch' kickoffs.

Amazing coach, organization planner, game manager & personnel evaluator & developer. Maybe the best combined overall at these things of any coach in any sport. Enormous influence on & off the field; no point in repeating what's being written everywhere, though he deserves extra credit for starting the Minority Coaching Fellowship.

The Colts brought him in to look at Manning & Leaf in '98. After a little while he said "Manning, and it's not close".

I knew this was coming soon, but reading all the anecdotes (and be sure ya'll read "The Blind Side" who haven't yet), and thinking about all those great slugfests in the '80s against the Bears, Giants & Redskins plus the Supes, brought a lump up, no question. RIP.

http://www.sportsposterwarehouse.com...official-1.jpg

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
The Colts brought him in to look at Manning & Leaf in '98. After a little while he said "Manning, and it's not close".


[/ QUOTE ]

Documentation of this?

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Great, great coach, seems like he was also universally well-liked. I remember the year of the NFL strike/lock-out whatever it was, and he ran a wishbone against Parcells. Parcells gave him a "WTF?" look and Walsh smiled and shrugged. That plus the bellhop outfit plus the minority coaching deal he put together showed me that, despite the fact that he was called "genius" he was a good guy who knew his place in life. RIP indeed.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

At first I was only mildy affected by this not aware of how big an impact he had. Today at work(I'm interning at ABC Sports this summer) I watched just about every coach in the NFL and various players talking about what an amazing loss this was for the football community and how big an impact he had on the game. The way that he handled himself, players, created imaginative offensive and defensive schemes, created the idea of the redzone...it was all just really moving to listen to.

RIP Bill..you will be missed

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
The Colts brought him in to look at Manning & Leaf in '98. After a little while he said "Manning, and it's not close".


[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, prior to the draft, he suggested the Colts take a defensive player, and draft Griese in the second round.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Interesting how he got the WC offense started in Cincy originally with a QB named Virgil Carter who couldn't really throw deep - and that he favored his ex_QB at Stanford over Montana in 1979.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Thanks for the championships Bill Walsh, R.I.P.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
Interesting how he got the WC offense started in Cincy originally with a QB named Virgil Carter who couldn't really throw deep - and that he favored his ex_QB at Stanford over Montana in 1979.

[/ QUOTE ]

Steve DeBerg was the starting QB in 1979, and he played at San Jose State, not Stanford. DeBerg had a very good grasp of Walsh's offense, but had a below average arm and tended to throw the big interception late in games. Kind of a weird situation occured in the third week of the 1980 season, when DeBerg developed laryngitis and wasn't able to properly make the snap count at the line. The Niners got permission from the league to mount a loudspeaker to the back of DeBerg's shoulderpads. At one point during the game the Niner's had the ball deep in Jets territory and DeBerg came running off the field with his helmet in his hands gesturing that the speaker system wasn't working. In came the much more mobile Montana who promptly ran a naked bootleg 20 yards for the score. After the game Walsh admitted that the speaker failure was faked and that exact scenario had been planned for in advance, kind of Walsh's way of letting Montana experience success without putting any pressure on him.

Montana took over the starting job for good midway through the 1980 season and DeBerg was traded to the Broncos that offseason (where he became the guy that John Elway replaced.) Guy Benjamin, who did QB for Walsh at Stanford, was Montana's backup during the Superbowl season in 1981.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

I'm sure this will be mentioned in the subsequent stories, and probably already has been, but if you were to make a family tree of all Walsh's protege's and assistants, it would encompass a huge percentage of the current NFL coaching staffs.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure this will be mentioned in the subsequent stories, and probably already has been, but if you were to make a family tree of all Walsh's protege's and assistants, it would encompass a huge percentage of the current NFL coaching staffs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Credit Wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...hing_Tree3.GIF

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Interesting how he got the WC offense started in Cincy originally with a QB named Virgil Carter who couldn't really throw deep - and that he favored his ex_QB at Stanford over Montana in 1979.

[/ QUOTE ]

Steve DeBerg was the starting QB in 1979, and he played at San Jose State, not Stanford. DeBerg had a very good grasp of Walsh's offense, but had a below average arm and tended to throw the big interception late in games. Kind of a weird situation occured in the third week of the 1980 season, when DeBerg developed laryngitis and wasn't able to properly make the snap count at the line. The Niners got permission from the league to mount a loudspeaker to the back of DeBerg's shoulderpads. At one point during the game the Niner's had the ball deep in Jets territory and DeBerg came running off the field with his helmet in his hands gesturing that the speaker system wasn't working. In came the much more mobile Montana who promptly ran a naked bootleg 20 yards for the score. After the game Walsh admitted that the speaker failure was faked and that exact scenario had been planned for in advance, kind of Walsh's way of letting Montana experience success without putting any pressure on him.

Montana took over the starting job for good midway through the 1980 season and DeBerg was traded to the Broncos that offseason (where he became the guy that John Elway replaced.) Guy Benjamin, who did QB for Walsh at Stanford, was Montana's backup during the Superbowl season in 1981.

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Cool story about Deberg and the microphone. The QB I was referring to though was literally Walsh's QB when he was at Stanford - something like "Dils". I don't even know if he ever made an NFL team as a starter.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]


Cool story about Deberg and the microphone. The QB I was referring to though was literally Walsh's QB when he was at Stanford - something like "Dils". I don't even know if he ever made an NFL team as a starter.

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Steve Dils played for a number of years and was pretty much a career backup. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Vikings in '79, so very unlikely that Walsh had him rated higher than Montana.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Interesting how he got the WC offense started in Cincy originally with a QB named Virgil Carter who couldn't really throw deep - and that he favored his ex_QB at Stanford over Montana in 1979.

[/ QUOTE ]

Steve DeBerg was the starting QB in 1979,

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Yeah, he meant Carter at Cinci, and then Steve Dils over Montana in the draft.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Not only was he an amazing coach and motivator, but he was the best damn developer and evaluator of football talent that the game has ever seen (and will ever see). In an age where scouts, coaches, and general managers look at players and say "he doesn't run a fast enough 40," instead of "hey this guy runs great routes and has a terrific work ethic," Walsh had a knack for noticing and projecting what players COULD do for the team, and instilling that belief in the players themselves. In doing so he found guys like Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia, Roger Craig, everyone from the '86 draft, the list goes on forever.

As a lifelong 49er fan, I will miss him a lot, RIP Bill.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

Page with link to audio of Walsh's last radio interview

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure this will be mentioned in the subsequent stories, and probably already has been, but if you were to make a family tree of all Walsh's protege's and assistants, it would encompass a huge percentage of the current NFL coaching staffs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Credit Wikipedia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...hing_Tree3.GIF

[/ QUOTE ]

This says it all.

Walsh has been the greatest influence in the history of the NFL.

He will be missed. R.I.P Mr. Walsh, the greatest mind football has ever seen.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

More than half of the current NFL head coaches are attached to Walsh's coaching tree. That is just sick.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

if anyone get SJ Mercury today, they had a sick graph showing that chart above (w/ illustrations obv). The sick thing is, the wiki chart forgot another coach linked to Walsh. He is no other than Mike Nolan (current HC of 49ers DUH) who worked under Billick who worked under Green who worked under Walsh

OMG it's a complete cycle.

RETURN TO THE GLORY!!

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]
Not only was he an amazing coach and motivator, but he was the best damn developer and evaluator of football talent that the game has ever seen (and will ever see). In an age where scouts, coaches, and general managers look at players and say "he doesn't run a fast enough 40," instead of "hey this guy runs great routes and has a terrific work ethic," Walsh had a knack for noticing and projecting what players COULD do for the team, and instilling that belief in the players themselves. In doing so he found guys like Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jeff Garcia, Roger Craig, everyone from the '86 draft, the list goes on forever.

As a lifelong 49er fan, I will miss him a lot, RIP Bill.

[/ QUOTE ]

Article by Ira Miller about the '86 draft.

Re: R.I.P. Bill Walsh
 

[ QUOTE ]

The Colts brought him in to look at Manning & Leaf in '98. After a little while he said "Manning, and it's not close".



[/ QUOTE ]

Googletard am I. Guess I was a little emotional when I posted that. At best, it appears Walsh never said that. At worst, he may have fallen into the "short-term impact/long-term potential" trap and recommended Leaf; or else the "Andre Wadsworth or Charles Woodson(LOL)/Griese in the 2nd round" scenario someone mentioned, and which, sigh, I also thought at the time Colts should have strongly considered. My bad, sorry.

Props to Bill Polian. Occam's Razor FTW.

WTF, even the best get one wrong once in awhile. Walsh could prolly get in the HOF if he had retired after the 1986 Draft, which along with the Steelers' 1974 Draft, will likely never be equaled.