Bill Walsh

[BigBenBlows]

Just seen on NFL Network that Bill Walsh has passed away due to complications from lukemia. A big loss to the NFL.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Wow. I just read that online as well. Sad day in the NFL.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

RIP Bill.

[The PatternMaster]

He's the one that got away, can't help but wonder if PB had hired Walsh if we would have one a SuperBowl..oh well.

R.I.P. Bill Walsh

[jjakq27]

RIP Bill Walsh.

My only regret is that the Bengals had to play the 49ers in those two Super Bowls. Kind of a cruel twist of irony.

Also I wish the national media would acknowledge his time with the Bengals as being the formative years of the West Coast Offense. It is also interesting to note that Walsh's official title with the Bengals was Wide Receivers coach not Offensive Coordinator as you might read elsewhere.

Also, in case anyone missed this one a few days ago.

http://www.bengalszone.com/article.php?sid=541

PS: I moved this to the Bengals page because of his connection with the team.

[HoosierCat]

Also I wish the national media would acknowledge his time with the Bengals as being the formative years of the West Coast Offense.

That point gets its due here:

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/SF/10274969

102-63-1 with the 49ers, 10 of 14 postseason, with six division titles, 3 Lombardis, coach of the year in 1981 and 1984...and a couple kids...and 75 years. Not a bad run. Not a bad run at all.

Edited to add: Man what a crappy day! I just bounced over to yahoo and not only do we lose Walsh today, but also Tom Snyder and Ingmar Bergman. Damn.

Well...at least tonight's Late Show in the hereafter ought to be fun!

[jjakq27]

Also I wish the national media would acknowledge his time with the Bengals as being the formative years of the West Coast Offense.

That point gets its due here:

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/SF/10274969

102-63-1 with the 49ers, 10 of 14 postseason, with six division titles, 3 Lombardis, coach of the year in 1981 and 1984...and a couple kids...and 75 years. Not a bad run. Not a bad run at all.

I am glad to see it noted in that article.

However I just got done watching Trey Wingo on ESPN and if you didn't know better, you would think it all came to him in 1980. As I mentioned the other day, Joe Montana said in an SI article in the 80's, that Walsh made him watch tapes of Ken Anderson when he arrived in SF.

[BlainThePain]

R.I.P. Walsh.

[HairOnFire]

I am glad to see it noted in that article.

However I just got done watching Trey Wingo on ESPN and if you didn't know better, you would think it all came to him in 1980. As I mentioned the other day, Joe Montana said in an SI article in the 80's, that Walsh made him watch tapes of Ken Anderson when he arrived in SF.

Most knowledgable historians are aware that Walsh developed the WCO while with the Bengals. Sadly, when I mention knowledgable historians I can't include Steve Young, a great QB whose grasp of history seems limited to the things he's seen with his own eye. Over the years Young has repeatedly given Walsh credit for inovations that Walsh himself credits Paul Brown for. In fact, earlier in the day I listened to Young claim that every team in the NFL has since followed Walsh's lead by either running a full blown version of the WCO option or healthy doses of it. Bengal fans know that Cincinnati was already running that scheme before the 49'ers hired Walsh. In fact, some of us are old enough to remember how the media's initial reaction to the scheme was overwhelmingly negative, mocking it as a "dink & dunk" offense that was dictated by a lack of talent at offensive skill positions.

[jjakq27]

The statement from the Bengals:

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6156

[jjakq27]

In fact, some of us are old enough to remember how the media's initial reaction to the scheme was overwhelmingly negative, mocking it as a "dink & dunk" offense that was dictated by a lack of talent at offensive skill positions.

That is usually one of the negatives attributed to why Ken Anderson isn't in the Hall of Fame. But Anderson and Steve Young are the only two QBS to lead the league in passing during four different seasons. Funny how that argument only fits for some people.

Here is the tree of the head coaches that played or worked for Walsh. I thought I read somewhere that Marvin Lewis did an internship for Walsh and 49ers in what would later become the Minority Coaching Program.

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

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...bit_N.htm#table

[HairOnFire]

In fact, some of us are old enough to remember how the media's initial reaction to the scheme was overwhelmingly negative, mocking it as a "dink & dunk" offense that was dictated by a lack of talent at offensive skill positions.

That is usually one of the negatives attributed to why Ken Anderson isn't in the Hall of Fame. But Anderson and Steve Young are the only two QBS to lead the league in passing during four different seasons. Funny how that argument only fits for some people.

Exactly my point. Kenny Anderson never shook the label that Young never had faced as the WCO was fully proven by the time Young was handed the controls of an already finely tuned machine.

[walshfan]

I was a big fan of his......innovative and attention to minute details enabled the 49's to win.

a great coach .

[jjakq27]

In fact, some of us are old enough to remember how the media's initial reaction to the scheme was overwhelmingly negative, mocking it as a "dink & dunk" offense that was dictated by a lack of talent at offensive skill positions.

That is usually one of the negatives attributed to why Ken Anderson isn't in the Hall of Fame. But Anderson and Steve Young are the only two QBS to lead the league in passing during four different seasons. Funny how that argument only fits for some people.

Exactly my point. Kenny Anderson never shook the label that Young never had faced as the WCO was fully proven by the time Young was handed the controls of an already finely tuned machine.

It's funny that Young's yardage total (33,124) is just slightly higher than Ken Anderson's (32,838). I do believe that Young is more than worthy of the Hall but I think KA's numbers stand up well considering the era and that fact that Walsh left and Paul Brown retired after the 1975 season. It wasn't until Lindy Infante became his OC under Forrest Gregg that Anderson's numbers picked up again. By then the game was beginning to evolve and he was nearing the end of his career.

Anderson

2,654 of 4,475 passes (59.3%) for 32,838 yards and 197 touchdowns and 160 interceptions.

2,220 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 397 carries (5.6 yd avg.).

Passer rating 27th @ 81.9%

Young

2,667 of 4,149 passes (64.3%) for 33,124 yards and 232 touchdowns, with 107 interceptions.

4,239 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns on 722 carries (5.9 yd avg.).

(Second most ever gained by a quarterback, behind Randall Cunningham)

His 96.8% passer rating is the highest in NFL history

[BigBenBlows]

He's the one that got away, can't help but wonder if PB had hired Walsh if we would have won a SuperBowl..oh well.

R.I.P. Bill Walsh

Yeah I was talking to my wife about that today after I heard the news.

[oldschooler]

From an article posted today in the San Jose Mercury News . . .

A few months later, Walsh became an assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals.

I always thought that Walsh should have been proud of the job he did with the Apaches. It so perfectly reflected his dogged nature and his modest roots. He surely used the humiliating experience as an incentive to succeed. That motivation only increased a decade later, when Paul Brown retired and chose someone else as his successor. That ate at Walsh for a long, long time.

But if there was a blessing in Walsh's slow-acting form of leukemia, it was that nearly everybody he touched could tell him how important he'd been to their lives. Back in April, I asked Walsh about his own closure.

"Before Paul Brown died, did he ever apologize or admit his mistake in not hiring you as the Bengals' head coach?" I wondered.

"Not really," Walsh said, then caught himself and remembered that during his stint as a NBC analyst, he had talked to Brown.

"After we were done with the interview," Walsh said, "I was opening the door and leaving and Paul stood up and pointed a finger across the room. He said: `I made a mistake when I didn't hire you as head coach.' "

"I told him, `No, no, Paul, it all worked out,' " Walsh said. "And Paul said: `No, it was a mistake.' Then I walked out the door."

"Did it mean something to you?" I asked.

Walsh thought for a few seconds.

"Yes," Walsh said. "Yes, it did."

I'm glad. Walsh deserved that feeling. It holds true for even the big legends. And that's what he was around here. The biggest.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6500514

RIP Bill