Former 49er head coach Bill Walsh dies

S. F. Chronicle ^ | Monday, July 30, 2007 | Tom FitzGerald, Chronicle Staff Writer

[redgirlinabluestate]

Ah, the memories:
The Catch

[Doomonyou]

And possibly the “leg-whip”.

He passed that one on to Shanahan in Denver.

[BJClinton]

If you haven’t seen this yet.

[Chuck Dent]

Bill Walsh not only revolutionized the game & made it what it is today, but he also knew how to (a) utilize existing talent & (b) pick new players. I refer, of course, to his realization of how to incorporate Joe M into the W/C offense, and his choice of Jerry R from a small college in Miss.

[dearolddad]

No doubt Bill’s already planning strategy for the big showdown between the Good Guys and Satan’s minions.

Walsh's Good Guys 27, Satan's minions 0.

[Uncle Hal]

A great coach and a true innovator. As a 49er fan, he brought me a lot of happiness and joy.

[free me]

Now,now. Cut blocking is perfectly legal in the NFL :)

Bill Walsh wasn't just an offensive genius and evaluator of talent. He really invented the way to run a modern NFL franchise, and that is something Shanny really did take from him, as did many others.

RIP coach.

[IslandJeff]

Some NFL analyst did this clever “geneology” of current head coaches vis-a-vis offensive styles. It came down to something like three patriarchs, Walsh being one of them.

RIP, Coach. He would dig my Seahawks.

[rfp1234]

Walsh’s legacy of NFL coaches is astounding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaching_tree

[Doomonyou]

Now,now. Cut blocking is perfectly legal in the NFL :)

Hey, I'm not complaining! Just stating a fact!

[thefactor]

wow. rip.

[Cyropaedia]

You know despite the fact that he worked numerous HOF quarterbacks, Walsh said that the greatest talent that he ever encountered at the quarterback position was Greg Cook. Cook was the Bengals' rookie quarterback back in 1969. Cook suffered a tear in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder but it went undiagnosed until after the season. It wound up effectively ending his career.

Walsh maintained that if Cook hadn't suffered that injury that together they would have set records that would have never been broken. No NFL quarterback since '69 has been able to equal Cook's 17.5 yards a completion average. And, again, that was done with a rookie quarterback playing on a second year expansion team. A rookie who had missed training camp. A rookie who played the majority of his games with a tear in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder. Absolutely unreal.

Watching the Bengal offense from that '69 season you would never believe you were looking at what was in fact a Bill Walsh offense. It was the complete antithesis of what you saw in San Francisco.

[GOP_Raider]

Here here!!

[Theresawithanh]

Very sad news! He was a class act, and he did a lot for football. Prayers for his family.

[GOP_Raider]

The FR College Football Ping List FReepmail GOP_Raider to be on or off this list RIP, Coach Walsh

[AnotherUnixGeek]

That man gave me and all 49ers fans so much joy and happiness on so many fall weekends and his legacy extended far beyond the 49ers, to so many other teams in the NFL coached by his assistants. Condolences to his family and friends - I’m truly sad about this.

[Doomonyou]

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Watching the Bengal offense from that '69 season you would never believe you were looking at what was in fact a Bill Walsh offense. It was the complete antithesis of what you saw in San Francisco.

He worked with what he had - coming into SF, neither Steve DeBerg nor Joe Montana had big arms, the 49ers had no running game to speak of, and their OL was athletic but undersized. So the short-to-midrange passing game that the Bill Walsh Offense became identified with.

[kik5150]

The West Coast offense should be named the Walsh offense. He always seemed to be one step ahead of his opponent. Everybody remembers “The Catch”, but what was equally impressive was “The Drive”. Who would have thought that he would send a broken down tailback like old Rat Daddy Elliott on a couple of end arounds? It showed the weakness of the flex defense. He was a genius.

[pogo101]

Yeah, I didn’t even know he was sick. RIP