Coaching Legend Bill Walsh Dead at 75 July 30, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News, DifferenceMakers , add a comment
One of my heroes died today. I am sad to see that Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected “the West Coast offense” during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75. Walsh died early Monday following a long battle with leukemia, according to Stanford University, where he served as coach and athletic director. This was a man of high integrity who used his position to develop players and coaches. As Walsh overhauled the 49ers from 2-14 in ‘79 into a Super Bowl champion in only three seasons, a remarkable succession of young coaches was spawned from the 49ers’ burgeoning dynasty. Listen to the names. Mike Holmgren. Mike White. Ray Rhodes. Sam Wyche. Bruce Coslet. George Seifert. Dennis Green. All of them were direct hires of Walsh and all of them became NFL head coaches. Most of them went on to develop another generation of coaches. Today, 14 of the NFL’s 32 head coaches are either direct descendants, or second- and-third generation disciples, of Walsh’s investment of time, talent and resources into his coaches.
He will be missed.
