Former 49ers Coach Bill Walsh Dead at 75

by BOHChris, The Blog of Hilarity

Bill Walsh, one of the most influential coaches in modern football and the man credited with creation of the West Coast Offense, passed away today after a lengthy battle against Leukemia. Doctors had initially had his chance of survival at 65%, but it was ultimately determined that his percentage was inflated due to Leukemia's penchant for short passes.

Walsh went 102-63-1 with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles. He was named the NFL's coach of the year in 1981 and 1984.

Even a short list of Walsh's adherents is stunning. Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes and Bruce Coslet all became NFL head coaches after serving on Walsh's San Francisco staffs, and Tony Dungy played for him. Most of his former assistants passed on Walsh's structures and strategies to a new generation of coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci and Jeff Fisher.

Walsh also is widely credited with inventing or popularizing many of the modern basics of coaching, from the laminated sheets of plays held by coaches on almost every sideline, to the practice of scripting the first 15 offensive plays of a game.

Jeez, if you read through that article, there's really nothing but positive thing about the guy, a rarity in modern sports. As a Cowboys fan, I'm not the one to go on at length extolling his virtues, but there's no question that Bill Walsh sure did a lot of great things for football. Walsh is one of those treasured coaches who no one can speak ill of, like a John Wooden or Red Auerbach.

The question to consider though: Will there be anyone close to leaving this much of an imprint on football of all the current coaches? The closest would probably be Bill Belichick, but he's just a good coach, not really someone responsible for creating an entire style of football.

Aside, if you say Bill Parcells, I will end you and your entire way of life.