Walsh, Bill

Walsh, Bill

(William Ernest Walsh), 1931–2007, American football coach, b. Los Angeles. He played football at San Jose State Univ. (B.A. 1955, M.A. 1959) and went into coaching, becoming an assistant college coach at the Univ. of California, Berkeley (1960–62) and Stanford Univ. (1963–65). Coaching in the National Football League as an offensive specialist from 1966, he was an assistant in Oakland, Cincinnati (1968), and San Diego (1976) before returning to Stanford as head coach and leading the team to bowl game wins (1977, 1978). In 1979 he returned to the NFL to coach the then-dismal San Francisco 49ers, where with such players as Joe MontanaMontana, Joe
(Joseph Clifford Montana) , 1956–, American football player, b. New Eagle, Pa. After playing at Notre Dame Univ., he starred (1979–93) for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, before moving (1993–95) to the Kansas City Chiefs.
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 and later Jerry RiceRice, Jerry Lee,
1962–, American football player, b. Crawford, Miss. Winning national attention while at the otherwise obscure Mississippi Valley State College, Itta Bena, Miss.
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 he perfected a version of the West Coast offense, emphasizing a mix of shorter-range, precision passes to one of at least two possible receivers. The 49ers successful passing game led to three Super Bowl championships in the 1980s. Walsh, whose offense made him the most influential professional football coach of the late 20th cent., retired in 1989 to become a sportscaster, but returned to Stanford as head coach for the 1992–94 seasons. He subsequently held consulting and managerial positions with the 49ers and Stanford until 2006.

Bibliography

See biography by D. Harris (2008).

Walsh, (William Ernest) Bill

(1931– ) football coach; born in Los Angeles. The most successful professional coach of the 1980s, he guided the San Francisco 49ers to victories in Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXIII. After coaching the 49ers (1979–89) he spent two years as a sportscaster and then took up coaching at Stanford (1992).