Bill Walsh was a boxer. That's why he was so obsessed with footwork. Anybody who knows boxing knows how important foot work is. So only a boxer could have ever innovated these idea into football. Thats also where beating them to the punch came from.
the annointed one he always had the speed bag at the training facility, and loved the fact that the players would try it and couldn’t do it as well as Bill could
@@maniacmasturbator2411 I’m happy y’all taught me about bill walsh more. I’m a dolphin but these stories make me wana cry how we missed the GOLDEN ERA 🌞
The fate of Cook is so sad. He passed on in 2012 in Cincinnati. Was destitute and living next door to a cafe with a very charitable owner. His story is tragic. One of "what could have been". It's a shame it seemed to come to light after he passed away. I really didn't want to be a downer, but to every football fan of every capacity: take a few minutes and learn about Greg Cook.
I'm a huge football fan and I had never heard of him until watching this video, then looking him it. Definitely someone who could have been a star with a long career.
You might as well include Bill Cower. Also coaches name Mike have been winners too; Shanahan, Holmgren, McCarthey, Tomlin, Ditka(when he was with Bears).
Daniel Kelegian Exactly...People talk about finesse vs smashmouth...Well yes 49ers offense was finesse but they had tough defenses. Lott, Millen, Fred Dean, Hacksaw Reynolds among a few. Early 90's defenses were not good enough...then in 94 they got back to being elite.
Daniel Kelegian oh you are so right my friends. I always ring my hands when all we hear about these niner teams is "WCO, WCO, WCO" but how about those defenses? They were great units. It's always that way though when a team has a Montana or a Brady. Another example of this is those great NE dynasty teams of the early 2000s. When those teams are discussed, Brady is #1 mention. But those teams won all those rings with GREAT defenses. Look at Brady's stats from that period...he didn't even throw for 4000 yds a season. Coincidentally, those were NEs most dominant teams.
Bill Walsh is the greatest offensive mind in football history, period. It's pretty amazing and rare for someone to truly change the game like this. He was like 15 years ahead of everyone else schematically
The more interesting part is that he didn't invent the "west coast offense". Fran Tarkenton and the Giants were running that offense in the 60's and early 70's. NFL Films even did a special on that very thing admitting this fact.
NIKO SAMUELS Don Coryell never won a Super Bowl. Bill Walsh was an offensive genius who designed what is now known as the West Coast Offense while as a coach in Cincinnati.
NIKO SAMUELS Bill Walsh was the better coach who got there 49ers to 3 Super Bowls in his tenure as coach. Don Coryell only got 114 wins, 89 losses and 1 tie (Includes Regular Season and Postseason) to his name whole leading the Cardinals to 2 division titles and the Chargers to 3 division titles and 4 playoff appearances. And all of those appearances he choked. His coaching tree included a Super Bowl winning coach in Joe Gibbs. Bill Walsh on the other hand has a solid 102-63-1 record under his belt, as well as 6 division titles, and three Super Bowls, all with the 49ers. And his coaching tree includes some Super Bowl Champions and great coaches. George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes, Mike Shannahan, Andy Reid, Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, Gary Kubiak, Doug Pederson, they're all on Walsh's coaching tree because they are WINNERS. Walsh is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for not only the three Super Bowls and and amazing coaching tree, but also for his offensive strategy and making the West Coast Offense more than just nickel and dime football. Coryell's offense is a copy of his mentor Sid Gillman's offense. It doesn't cut it. That's why he's not in the Hall of Fame. Therefore, your argument is invalid.
NIKO SAMUELS You know what's not false? Your disrespect towards an innovator who changed the NFL forever with short, horizontal passes while defending a coach who never got the job done with Sid Gillman's offense. That's a fact.
Like they say at the end, as much of a genius as Walsh was, as many countless thousands of hours he spent during his life perfecting his craft and his strategies, and as good of a roster of legends that he had like Rice and Montana, they still managed to score just 3 points in each of those 2 playoff losses to the Giants. I don't say that as a knock on Walsh, just pointing out how difficult it is to succeed at this level of football, even for guys who at times made it look easy.
The Giants were the thorn on the Niners' side during the '80s. The Niners and Giants were the ultimate NFC rivalry during the '80s. They were like the Steelers and Raiders of the '70s. They were exact opposites who constantly battled each other in the regular season and the playoffs.
i mean it was a genius against another genius in belicheick who is also the greatest coach in his own right one mad man against another yea parcells waqs the head coach but bill belicheck designed the defense to beat him its the ultimate game of chess to masters of the craft.
That 1990 loss to the Giants was probably the most brutal loss in Niners history (yes more than the loss to the Ravens). They were so close to a 3-peat.
Jebuiz y'har I think the 90 loss was bill parcels battling it out with George seifert. In that NFC championship game. Lawrence Taylor caused that fumble and the giants took home the gold. Great game.
@@jamesd6390 L.T. recovered the fumble. He didn't cause it. Erik Howard, the Giants' nosetackle, caused it. Madden called it the greatest play by a nosetackle that he had ever seen.
Walsh had the most success out of all the contemporaries that used his scheme. Obviously there has been huge success from those who used his method and it has largely grown in sophistication, however, I believe Walsh’s coaching and attention to details and fundamentals, made it the best. If you read his books he always talks mostly about footwork, drop backs, and rhythm. This is where he had everyone beat. When others use their time on expanding on the W.C.’s sophistication (including personal groupings and shotgun) Walsh kept on with the basics, mastered the basics, played under center (which had a lot to do with its success) and had Joe and Steve always go back to fundamentals (like keeping left knee flexed while throwing) and the drop backs. Joe and Steve even talk about it in this clip. It’s very underestimated and very important - a major reason for its multiple successes. It made for precision timing and decisiveness!
"West Coast Offense" was the name given to Sid Gillmans passing attack in the early 60's with the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers. Although Walsh was greatly influenced by it he had made fundemental changes to where it was no longer the same thing. When a bay area journalist called his offense the West Coast Offense about a year after he took over Walsh was annoyed and said," Don't call it that. That is something completely different" But the name stuck despite what he wanted.
Something that doesn't get mentioned here is the fact that the rules were changing to open up the passing game. Timing routes are a huge part of the West Coast offense. Prior to the rule changes, they were not really possible, as receivers could not be counted on to be in a certain spot, at a certain time, because DBs could mug them all the way down the field, and O-Lineman could only block with their forearms, not their hands, which gave the quarterback far less time to throw. The WCO was a genius philosophy, but the rules changes in the late 70s that opened up the passing game are what made it possible.
it's amazing it took them that long to figure out how to make the game better...that said, offensive lineman were blocking with their hands for a long time, but it was rarely penalized...
But a lot of the philosophies of the WCO was incorporated well before the rules changes in 1979. It still would have been successful whether they occurred or not.
WCO was made before the rule changes and it was ran in Cincy with Ken Anderson and he ran it quite well. Also you can trace back to 1957 with the days of Sid Gillmans vertical offense
Brilliant, coming up under Paul Brown, the original genius. You hear the words of Steve Young, a smart guy listening to a smart guy, and that's a formula for great success. I know times have changed, most QBs work out of the gun now, but I wonder why more teams don't use that short passing game.
@Jay Thompson i mean both offenses have west coast base concepts but are two very different variations of it chiefs is more to use the timing of the system on vertical routes and having the halfback to be more or less the primary read if the deep shot isn't there which is more of bill walsh's offense influence now blocking and the quaterbacks ability is what separtes he shanahan west coast offense relies on the running scheme and timing of blocks to open the run game and create holes for a running back with elite quickness can exploit
God Bless Bill,as a Native San Franciscan and a person who bleeds red and gold,I'm still distraught that he passed; to me and you can take this whoever you'd like the man is a diety
I'll always be a Don Shula fan, but I agree Mr. Walsh was a genius. Maybe it helps that I'm a SF Giants fan from Mass. Been a fan since John Montefusco.
I idealized Walsh's concepts of offense. I coached football back in the 80s and designed an offense around what I could devise by watching video tapes of 49er games. I drew up 7 plays which when flipped left to right became 14 plays. These were the most effective I could come up with and simple enough for each offensive player to grasp without spending hours on end learning 100 complex plays. After all these were amateurs with 9 to 5 jobs. In our first game on the very first drive we drove down the field and scored a TD. The plays (and concept) worked. They worked so well, the team went 11-0, winning the championship the first year. The second year with the exact same plays, a few new players, the team went 10-1, losing in the championship game. I moved away from the area the next year and never went back to offensive coaching. I did coach on the defensive side, going 11-0 and winning the championship the first year and losing one game the next year; no championship was played that year. I moved away from football after losing my wife and family to divorce after those stressful years. I understand how the pressure of perfection can effect a person. It consumes your every waking thought and you're always waiting for the shoe to drop, so to speak. R.I.P Mr. Walsh, a true genius of the game.
I met Bill Walsh at Cattlemens steakhouse in Roseville CA back in the mid 90s when the 49ers used to have Training camp in Rocklin. Got his autograph on a menu haha
West Coast Offense my foot. Everybody was too jealous to call it by its real name, the Bill Walsh offense. In that first Super Bowl year the 49ers used what they called "the long handoff" because they didn't have a good running game.
His real genius came in the 1981 playoff game against the Giants. While Lawrence Taylor was wreaking havoc on defence Walsh said "why not block Taylor with 2 more blockers". Leave the RB in pass protection and chip Taylor" Taylor was a non factor literally the whole game.
Paul Brown mentioned to other teams that he didn't think that Bill Walsh could handle the ups and downs of being a Head Coach in the NFL. Never assume or underestimate anyone
Dennis Williams Yep. Parcells' defenses were game planned defenses. That 3-4 they ran was a beast. Had the 86 Giants played the Bears that year?! OH MY GOD,the Bears probably would've repeated as Super Bowl Champions
Matt Beeman Yep.I think the 86 Bears ran a 4-3 Over front with some 46 sprinkled in after Buddy Ryan left to coach Philadelphia. Both the Bears & Giants finished 14-2 that season & I think the Bears had the #1 defense while the Giants had the #2 best defense
Matt Beeman Found the defensive team stats from the 86 season: Bears #1 total, #2 vs.pass & vs.the run #16 in points allowed The Giants #2 total, #19 vs.the Pass #1 vs.the run #21 points allowed
Those Giants defenses held the 49ers to 6 points total in the playoffs in 85-86. From 1984-1986 they met 5 times including the playoffs, SF scored a total of 3 points total in the 2nd half of those games
@@TL2354 Injury's, trades, blown calls, etc... Why you automatically think its not giving it your all? That kind of assuming dumb none thought out suggestion is what gets you a smart ass remark like "your just being a hater". Come with something else besides hate.
I will disagree because of this-if you put Steve Young or Joe Montana in the NFL today, and both of them are in their prime, they thrive. You put Brady in the NFL of the '80's, where you could still beat the shit out of the QB and get away with it, Brady lasts 3 years, maybe 4. Also keep in mind that Montana never turned the ball over in an SB. He also never intentionally grounded the ball on the first play of the game, which then leads to a safety. Remember the SB in Indy? Just a few thoughts from a Packers fan and neutral observer.
Gotta remember this: if I ever for some reason decide to hold up a gas station or some such, and the police are waiting with their guns as I come out, I should freeze, smile and say, "Officer, it was just a bit of gamesmanship."
@Damien Jones True but young Unitas was not a west coaster yet. Older post Eubank was when his deep ball went cold yes. Him and Don McCafferty came up with the scheme now called west coast offense. Ask any Baltimore Colt still alive who played with him. It's true. Short passes.3 step and two step drops and heavy on the tight end finding the seam in zone coverages.
@Damien Jones The west coast was originally Baltimore's 2 minute offense devised by Don McCafferty and Unitas. As Unitas skills grew weak as he aged it became the main offense in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ask Tom Matte. Ask Danny Sullivan Ernie Accorsi Dick Sysmanski Lenny Moore ask anyone alive from the 1968- 1971 Baltimore Colts. Shula didn't invent it it was the genius of Unitas and Don McCaffery. Ask Mcafferys son he's still alive. Bill Walsh was Bengals assistant and got beat by it in the 1970 playoffs. Lmao
Your right ! I saw it all go down in Baltimore as a youngster. Tom Matte tells the truth nothing against Walsh but he stole it. Its a copycat league to this day
Some of this offense was stolen from Archie Cooley the head coach of Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley St.Rice said that in his early yrs in San Francisco anything he used on offense he saw while in college.According to ppl who knew Cooley he was flown out to California to teach this explosive offense to Walsh.
That offense to replace runs with short and midrange passing is brilliant. It still had the idea of long drives like a 'smash mouth' approach. These pass heavy offenses after the 99 rams are just garbage. They put too much pressure on the defense. It's not even feast or famine cause a quick score still hurts their own defense
Amazing how a great coach can make winning football games at the highest level so easy. Too bad Jerry Jones is allergic to hiring a coach of this elk smh
So Joe Montana was a product of Bill Walsh he was a system player... I'm kidding, but that's how you idiots sound when you call Brady a product or system QB. EVERY QB IS A SYSTEM QB. Joe and Tom just have amazing football minds that they took the system their in or were in and made it even better.
absolutely wrong. you just can't assume because he had a pretty bad seaskn doesn't mean he wasn't in a different system. manning never really had his own system he learned the in and outs of the current system he was in and he did this each time he got a new coach and he eventually was creating the offensive game plan and terminology with the coaches. his rookie season although not the best statistically he sat down with his coaches to revamp the system while most quarteebacks struggle to just learn the system. he truly was a student of the game and when your a student of the game for 30+ years and remember everything every coach taught you then your going to be able to tell your coach and offensive coordinator how to beat certain coverages, run against certain fronts, protection from the blitz. after mannings 2011 injury his right tricep never fully recover because I'm pretty sure he had damage in his nerves but his arm strength was never the same and as a result he learned to compensate by getting a stronger core and legs and instead of trying to out gun the defense he just tried to control the ball with more timing routes and plays that would open coverages up such as four very against cover looks. manning in his early years was very interesting to watch because his play action game was so good I've seen move the entire back 7 defenders with a playfake and as a result of the linebackers and even ty law biting so hard down on the fake manning would throw to a wide open Marvin Harrison or Austin collie who was a beast at the time. I'm not saying Brady is dumb but if he were to instantly get a new offensive coordinator I highly doubt he would have learned it fully like the way manning did. I knowbbrady could do it but manning did it so good he would look at it anytime he could even when he was in the hottub letting his body relax after his workout.
Nicholas Pfarner Brady had different coordinators as well not as much as manning. Sure the different coaches had different terminology but the core system was the same.
corey thomas nope they achieve similar things but they actually use the “east coast offense” from the video, the Earnhardt Perkins offense. Giants, Pats, Saints, Texans and other Parcells/Belichick-related teams
By my count more super bowls have been won by teams running an offense with roots back to the Air Coryell system than the so called West Coast Offense. 1981,1987/1991 Redskins. 1992,1993.1995 Cowboys. 1999 St Louis Rams. 2006 Colts.2007 Saints,2008 Steelers, 2015/2017 Patriots. Actually the 2007 record setting offense 16-0 patriots also used it,but they fell short. The GSOT was a tweaked and very robust version of Air Coryell and both the Colts and Patriots installed their versions of it.
1999 Rams were all about the West coast offense...They had the dual threat RB in Faulk and Wrs in Bruce and Holt that specialized in running after the catch.
we talked about, my footwork and he said...look if you'll just follow the directions, and the footwork that goes with each pass pattern, I can tell you the timing for when to deliver the football and to who on your feet. and I'm like, what??? lmao Steve young.
When Bill Walsh retired as the 49ers coach and general manager he went straight to being an NFL game color commentator for NBC Sports I think it was his very first game where I heard him say that there have been many different ideas for offense and defense over the years with the Packers Steelers Cowboys and his 49ers. That there is no one formula for creating a Playbook for success. The only thing these teams have in common is there a bility to acquire Talent and recognize where they need to get better people. "It takes talent to win in the NFL" He said. I remember those words exactly.
martinishot Walsh was an underrated commentator and he would rip people. Watch the 1990 afc championship as he continuously blasts a clearly clueless and dazed art shell. Awesome content. But it was true, the level of incompetence was astounding and Walsh walked us through it step by step as it was developing. Nevertheless the owners hated him and had him taken off
It would have been interesting to see how San Francisco would have done if they had played in the NFC East during the 80's instead of playing in the West with the Rams, Falcons, and the Saints. The Redskins, Giants, and Eagles and the Bears (in the Central) played a much different style than the 49ers.
Back then it worked because it was just so different and new. There is not pure WCO system in the NFL nowadays. If anything is close, I would say Andy Reid's KC Chiefs play somewhat of a hybrid WCO. But more or less, it's gone now from today's NFL. It's more of a spread/air raid hybrid now. Secondaries are way too talented- bigger faster and stronger to have a pure WCO nowadays. Remember when the pistol read option couldn't be stopped 5 years ago? That was thought to be the future- so teams started to draft all these running QBs after Cam is drafted. Well NFL defenses figured it out and stopped it. Plus the read option puts your QB in great risk of being hurt.
Agreed. On the other side of the ball, offenses figured out the 46 and Chicago had one year of dominance. I can only imagine if Miami had beaten the Pats what SB 20 would have been like.
Jason Mullins Exactly- Some teams simply can't beat other teams in certain systems. For example, the Raiders couldn't beat Buffalo in the AFC championship game in the '90 season. But some say that if the Raiders were to have beat Jim Kelly's K Gun offense, the Raiders would of beaten the NY Giants. You never know. Marino and the dolphins seemed unstoppable that year. I don't know if you watched that recent '85 bears documentary before buddy died? The players on that defense claimed they would of won 3 in a row at least if certain players did not get hurt and if buddy never went to philly.
You have put me on a subject of which I have a lot of opinion. I respect San Francisco for what they did, but I don't think they would have four titles if they had to play the Giants and Redskins twice a year in the late 80s. Those two teams played a different kind of game than the 49ers. I'll admit I grew up a Skins fan, but to me, those were the dominant teams of 86-91. Gibbs and Parcells had to face each other two and sometimes three times every year. That's a different level of game than playing the Rams, Falcons and Saints of the same time.
People only heard of the west coast offence when Montana played for Walsh. In college as well as in the Pro's Montana threw extremly accurate short passes, and was not very good at throwing a long ball. That changed when Rice joined the team and Montana quickly learned to throw a long ball in order to take advantage of Rice's considerable talent. Believe me if Walsh had coached Terry Bradshaw instead of Montana nobody would've ever heard of the West Coast offence.
Two things about what you said...Many of the "long" balls to RIce were actually short slants that turned into long balls. So in reality it didn't change much. Before RIce it was Freddie Solomon in that role. Freddie obviously wasn't as good as Rice but he was good and had deep speed and Montana when needed would stretch the defense by throwing long to him. But again, much of the Walsh passing was slants and outs designed to take advantage of the run after the catch--something Rice did better than anybody. Also, if Walsh had Terry Bradshaw he still would have done a similar thing since Bradshaw had some mobility. And if he didn't have enough, he would have traded Bradshaw as he got older for a QB that could. Steve DeBerg was no Bradshaw of course but he put up some great numbers under Walsh in 1979 and 1980 but he wasn't mobile and threw too many interceptions so when Montana was ready, DeBerg was traded to Denver in 1981. That's how Bill operated.
Michael Delfino Montana threw long balls to Rice. Its a fact. To bad you never saw that. Of course Montana to Rice on the slant was just about a guarantee 10 yards. Had Bradshaw in his prime played for Walsh, like Noll, Walsh would've took advantage of Bradshaws considerable talent, and the offence would have been called "The Bombs Away Bill Offence" LOL. To bad you never saw Bradshaw play.
t radar0412 Too bad I never saw that (Montana to RIce???? Are you kidding me? I;ve been a 49ers season ticket holder since 1974 (started going when I was 7). I saw EVERY one of them. I also saw a legion of very mediocre 49er QBs prior to Montana--Norm Snead, Tom Owen, Joe Reed, Scott Bull, Jim Plunket (in his 49er days he wasn't that good--blossomed with Raiders), etc...Saw my share. I didn't say Montana didn't throw long to Rice. He threw long to Rice. And he threw long to Freddie Solomon. But my point was that many of those "long" passes to Rice were also in fact 10-15 yard slants that Rice was able to out sprint the D and turn them into 80 yard plays. That's not a knock on Montana in any way. I worship the guy. My point was the play design was for it to be a 10-15 yard slant. Montana's passes were perfect and so was Jerry's routes and so was the timing and the play would end up being 80 yards. There were lots of those types of plays. Montana and Rice only played 6 seasons together. Montana was hurt in 1991 and 1992 and only played in the season finale of 1992 against Detroit. Montana had 6 seasons in the league before Rice was even there. SO yes i agree he threw long but there were also plenty of shorter plays turned into longer plays. And yes I saw Bradshaw play many times...Mostly on TV. Once in person against the 49ers--Monday night in 1978. No question he threw long too...Swan and Stallworth and others. I'm sure Walsh would have made Bradshaw even better than he was. That was no knock on Bradshaw. Walsh would have made anyone v=better. But Walsh didn't mess around...If you didn;t fit his system you were gone. And that meant anyone. My bad if that came out as a knock on Bradshaw. He was great. But no matter who he coached he still would have developed that offense eventually. No matter what it would have been ultimately called.
Bill Walsh was a boxer. That's why he was so obsessed with footwork. Anybody who knows boxing knows how important foot work is. So only a boxer could have ever innovated these idea into football. Thats also where beating them to the punch came from.
the annointed one he always had the speed bag at the training facility, and loved the fact that the players would try it and couldn’t do it as well as Bill could
For real?! I didn't that. Well, he did mention Marvin Hagler in this video, so it makes sense.
I've couldn't have said that anyway better
@@maniacmasturbator2411 I’m happy y’all taught me about bill walsh more. I’m a dolphin but these stories make me wana cry how we missed the GOLDEN ERA 🌞
@@cesarcanete3402 Yeah, I didn't know that either. I think it was Mohamed Ali who said "everyone has a plan, until you get hit in the face."
The fate of Cook is so sad. He passed on in 2012 in Cincinnati. Was destitute and living next door to a cafe with a very charitable owner. His story is tragic. One of "what could have been". It's a shame it seemed to come to light after he passed away. I really didn't want to be a downer, but to every football fan of every capacity: take a few minutes and learn about Greg Cook.
The ultimate what if
Corvette06USA This guy Greg Cook was the ORIGINAL JEFF GEORGE in the '70s 6-4 220 he had the ability to throw a ball any direction he wanted.
I'm a huge football fan and I had never heard of him until watching this video, then looking him it. Definitely someone who could have been a star with a long career.
Read about Greg Cook when I was younger he was called the greatest quarterback that never was
This guy was an offensive genius, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Unfortunately he had to work for lowlifes like policy and Debartolo.
Bill Walsh, Bill Parcels, Bill Belichick.
If you're coach is named Bill, you're in good hands.
You might as well include Bill Cower. Also coaches name Mike have been winners too; Shanahan, Holmgren, McCarthey, Tomlin, Ditka(when he was with Bears).
And Sean’s too..
@Councilman Les Wynan lmao
Bill O'Brien would like to challenge that statement.
Brian BILLick
The Niners defense was always overlooked. Just take a look at where there defenses were ranked from 81-90.
so true.
Daniel Kelegian Exactly...People talk about finesse vs smashmouth...Well yes 49ers offense was finesse but they had tough defenses. Lott, Millen, Fred Dean, Hacksaw Reynolds among a few. Early 90's defenses were not good enough...then in 94 they got back to being elite.
yup...49ers had one of the best team defenses of the 1980's..last i checked, there's nothing "finesse" about having a great defense..
Daniel Kelegian oh you are so right my friends. I always ring my hands when all we hear about these niner teams is "WCO, WCO, WCO" but how about those defenses? They were great units. It's always that way though when a team has a Montana or a Brady. Another example of this is those great NE dynasty teams of the early 2000s. When those teams are discussed, Brady is #1 mention. But those teams won all those rings with GREAT defenses. Look at Brady's stats from that period...he didn't even throw for 4000 yds a season. Coincidentally, those were NEs most dominant teams.
For sure, but the offense made it a lot easier for them by consistently having huge leads
Bill Walsh is the greatest offensive mind in football history, period. It's pretty amazing and rare for someone to truly change the game like this. He was like 15 years ahead of everyone else schematically
The more interesting part is that he didn't invent the "west coast offense". Fran Tarkenton and the Giants were running that offense in the 60's and early 70's. NFL Films even did a special on that very thing admitting this fact.
NIKO SAMUELS Don Coryell never won a Super Bowl. Bill Walsh was an offensive genius who designed what is now known as the West Coast Offense while as a coach in Cincinnati.
NIKO SAMUELS Bill Walsh was the better coach who got there 49ers to 3 Super Bowls in his tenure as coach. Don Coryell only got 114 wins, 89 losses and 1 tie (Includes Regular Season and Postseason) to his name whole leading the Cardinals to 2 division titles and the Chargers to 3 division titles and 4 playoff appearances. And all of those appearances he choked. His coaching tree included a Super Bowl winning coach in Joe Gibbs.
Bill Walsh on the other hand has a solid 102-63-1 record under his belt, as well as 6 division titles, and three Super Bowls, all with the 49ers. And his coaching tree includes some Super Bowl Champions and great coaches. George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes, Mike Shannahan, Andy Reid, Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, Sean Payton, Mike McCarthy, Gary Kubiak, Doug Pederson, they're all on Walsh's coaching tree because they are WINNERS.
Walsh is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for not only the three Super Bowls and and amazing coaching tree, but also for his offensive strategy and making the West Coast Offense more than just nickel and dime football. Coryell's offense is a copy of his mentor Sid Gillman's offense. It doesn't cut it. That's why he's not in the Hall of Fame.
Therefore, your argument is invalid.
NIKO SAMUELS You know what's not false? Your disrespect towards an innovator who changed the NFL forever with short, horizontal passes while defending a coach who never got the job done with Sid Gillman's offense. That's a fact.
No. He was brilliant yes but there are people taking it to a whole new level than him.
Those tapes are gold.
Bill Walsh, probably the only man more obsessed with feet than Rex Ryan
Damn
Very well played.
Robert Petrea chuck Noll talked about body position too
You god damn savage you!!! Lol
Rex can’t even choose the right QB
4:47
Lott: "I was like, really Bill?"
LMFAO
Timing and precision = perfection
Greatest. Mind. Ever.Bill Walsh is awesome.
Like they say at the end, as much of a genius as Walsh was, as many countless thousands of hours he spent during his life perfecting his craft and his strategies, and as good of a roster of legends that he had like Rice and Montana, they still managed to score just 3 points in each of those 2 playoff losses to the Giants. I don't say that as a knock on Walsh, just pointing out how difficult it is to succeed at this level of football, even for guys who at times made it look easy.
VicInNocal exactly this era was tough
VHS GUY But still manage to win 4 Super Bowls in the 80s.
The Giants were the thorn on the Niners' side during the '80s. The Niners and Giants were the ultimate NFC rivalry during the '80s. They were like the Steelers and Raiders of the '70s. They were exact opposites who constantly battled each other in the regular season and the playoffs.
i mean it was a genius against another genius in belicheick who is also the greatest coach in his own right one mad man against another yea parcells waqs the head coach but bill belicheck designed the defense to beat him its the ultimate game of chess to masters of the craft.
@@cyrillesu Lol, the Giants seemed to become a thorn in the Patriots side in the 2000's, theyre like the party crashers
That 1990 loss to the Giants was probably the most brutal loss in Niners history (yes more than the loss to the Ravens). They were so close to a 3-peat.
Jebuiz y'har I think the 90 loss was bill parcels battling it out with George seifert. In that NFC championship game. Lawrence Taylor caused that fumble and the giants took home the gold. Great game.
The worst loss I have ever experienced in my 40 plus years as a 49er fan
@@jamesd6390 L.T. recovered the fumble. He didn't cause it. Erik Howard, the Giants' nosetackle, caused it. Madden called it the greatest play by a nosetackle that he had ever seen.
optimus2g ahhh you are correct. My apologies. LT did recover it. I had to watch it again.
Wasn’t alive for that game but the Niners loss to Seattle in NFC championship was my worst experience even more so than the Ravens super bowl.
Walsh had the most success out of all the contemporaries that used his scheme. Obviously there has been huge success from those who used his method and it has largely grown in sophistication, however, I believe Walsh’s coaching and attention to details and fundamentals, made it the best. If you read his books he always talks mostly about footwork, drop backs, and rhythm. This is where he had everyone beat. When others use their time on expanding on the W.C.’s sophistication (including personal groupings and shotgun) Walsh kept on with the basics, mastered the basics, played under center (which had a lot to do with its success) and had Joe and Steve always go back to fundamentals (like keeping left knee flexed while throwing) and the drop backs. Joe and Steve even talk about it in this clip. It’s very underestimated and very important - a major reason for its multiple successes. It made for precision timing and decisiveness!
"West Coast Offense" was the name given to Sid Gillmans passing attack in the early 60's with the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers. Although Walsh was greatly influenced by it he had made fundemental changes to where it was no longer the same thing. When a bay area journalist called his offense the West Coast Offense about a year after he took over Walsh was annoyed and said," Don't call it that. That is something completely different" But the name stuck despite what he wanted.
Brady for sure has this book lol
What’s so funny?
Something that doesn't get mentioned here is the fact that the rules were changing to open up the passing game. Timing routes are a huge part of the West Coast offense. Prior to the rule changes, they were not really possible, as receivers could not be counted on to be in a certain spot, at a certain time, because DBs could mug them all the way down the field, and O-Lineman could only block with their forearms, not their hands, which gave the quarterback far less time to throw. The WCO was a genius philosophy, but the rules changes in the late 70s that opened up the passing game are what made it possible.
Interesting. Didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.
it's amazing it took them that long to figure out how to make the game better...that said, offensive lineman were blocking with their hands for a long time, but it was rarely penalized...
But a lot of the philosophies of the WCO was incorporated well before the rules changes in 1979. It still would have been successful whether they occurred or not.
Dennis Gadulka Have you watched football the last 20 years? You can't hit unless you do it softly, oh too hard hit softer!
WCO was made before the rule changes and it was ran in Cincy with Ken Anderson and he ran it quite well. Also you can trace back to 1957 with the days of Sid Gillmans vertical offense
The Legend The Great Bill Walsh 49ers HC 1979-88 R.I.P 1931-2007 ‼️
6:10 what a run by Craig. Such a great concept that he created, it really was beautiful
Craigs high knee kick brutalized tacklers!
Why isn't Roger in the HoF?
God bless the genius and the best head coach in the history of football ever mr. Bill Walsh rest in peace!
@Damien Jones
never heard of such thing??
Happy birthday bill walsh 84 years young
All Hail Bill Walsh.
Thank you thank you. You can refer to me as your holiness the anime pope.
@@binkbonkbones3402 he wasn't talking to u idiot
Brilliant, coming up under Paul Brown, the original genius. You hear the words of Steve Young, a smart guy listening to a smart guy, and that's a formula for great success. I know times have changed, most QBs work out of the gun now, but I wonder why more teams don't use that short passing game.
Bill Walsh was a man ahead of his time!
Footwork Footwork Footwork!! Great video, especialy the footage with the legendary Bill Parcells.
God damn this was a good watch. Thank you for all of the work.
Coach Walsh realised that such a brutal, physical sport could be ‘finessed’ with Joe Montana.
The West Coast Offense started in Cincinnati.
Yeah, plus Cincinnati is where it originated
The West Coast Offense started in Cincinnati and then Walsh goes to SF and gets to stick it to Cincinnati not once but twice in the SB!
John Unitas invented it. Bill Walsh named it.
Parcels calls it West Coast in a playoff interview....the rest is legend.
Amazing the West Coast is still being run today. 2020
What teams run it today?
@Jay Thompson i mean both offenses have west coast base concepts but are two very different variations of it chiefs is more to use the timing of the system on vertical routes and having the halfback to be more or less the primary read if the deep shot isn't there which is more of bill walsh's offense influence now blocking and the quaterbacks ability is what separtes he shanahan west coast offense relies on the running scheme and timing of blocks to open the run game and create holes for a running back with elite quickness can exploit
@Jay Thompson dont have to be a dick just was giving some in depth info
@@Cuauhtemoc3You watch football or what?
@@reivang7196 not that much.
God Bless Bill,as a Native San Franciscan and a person who bleeds red and gold,I'm still distraught that he passed; to me and you can take this whoever you'd like the man is a diety
*however
+David Mazzini Deity*
+JaLomangino lol ,thanks,grammar has never been my strong suit,a God not a go who diets freequently
+David Mazzini *guy,it's this Samsung
I'll always be a Don Shula fan, but I agree Mr. Walsh was a genius. Maybe it helps that I'm a SF Giants fan from Mass. Been a fan since John Montefusco.
greatest coach ever no question
1burnman Lombardi?
@@Raboon16283 Lombardi haha shit
Lombardi is the greatest coach it’s no contest
The one and only... with the greatest players ever... ❤️
Agreed Tom Brady.
The most exciting football ever.
He really paved the way for offenses today
I idealized Walsh's concepts of offense. I coached football back in the 80s and designed an offense around what I could devise by watching video tapes of 49er games. I drew up 7 plays which when flipped left to right became 14 plays. These were the most effective I could come up with and simple enough for each offensive player to grasp without spending hours on end learning 100 complex plays. After all these were amateurs with 9 to 5 jobs. In our first game on the very first drive we drove down the field and scored a TD. The plays (and concept) worked. They worked so well, the team went 11-0, winning the championship the first year. The second year with the exact same plays, a few new players, the team went 10-1, losing in the championship game. I moved away from the area the next year and never went back to offensive coaching. I did coach on the defensive side, going 11-0 and winning the championship the first year and losing one game the next year; no championship was played that year. I moved away from football after losing my wife and family to divorce after those stressful years. I understand how the pressure of perfection can effect a person. It consumes your every waking thought and you're always waiting for the shoe to drop, so to speak. R.I.P Mr. Walsh, a true genius of the game.
I met Bill Walsh at Cattlemens steakhouse in Roseville CA back in the mid 90s when the 49ers used to have Training camp in Rocklin. Got his autograph on a menu haha
Back when coaches looked sharp on the sidelines
Ya, now they look like they just got outta bed lol
Well engineered offense.
West Coast Offense my foot. Everybody was too jealous to call it by its real name, the Bill Walsh offense. In that first Super Bowl year the 49ers used what they called "the long handoff" because they didn't have a good running game.
His real genius came in the 1981 playoff game against the Giants. While Lawrence Taylor was wreaking havoc on defence Walsh said "why not block Taylor with 2 more blockers". Leave the RB in pass protection and chip Taylor" Taylor was a non factor literally the whole game.
It should be called "The Ohio River Offense".
"I was like.....really Bill" xDDD
I love stuff like this. The footwork. 1-2-3 throw. God is in the details. 😎
2:49 where can’t I get that jacket? That shut clean
2:58 *ahem* "It- it's tertiary, Jerry. Tertiary."
Dat short passing game got me to high-school yo!
This is cool. Very interesting insights on their offense.
This is totally not relevant but if the 49ers and North Face teamed up again and made the jacket pictured in 2:49 i would buy it in a heart beat
Paul Brown mentioned to other teams that he didn't think that Bill Walsh could handle the ups and downs of being a Head Coach in the NFL. Never assume or underestimate anyone
Niner fan all the way! Bill Walsh, Chuck Knoll, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula the big 4 Head coaches of the early days!
"Defenses couldn't respond..."
I'd argue the Giants defense of that era "responded" pretty well.
Dennis Williams
Yep. Parcells' defenses were game planned defenses. That 3-4 they ran was a beast. Had the 86 Giants played the Bears that year?! OH MY GOD,the Bears probably would've repeated as Super Bowl Champions
Matt Beeman
Yep.I think the 86 Bears ran a 4-3 Over front with some 46 sprinkled in after Buddy Ryan left to coach Philadelphia. Both the Bears & Giants finished 14-2 that season & I think the Bears had the #1 defense while the Giants had the #2 best defense
Matt Beeman
Found the defensive team stats from the 86 season:
Bears #1 total, #2 vs.pass & vs.the run #16 in points allowed
The Giants #2 total, #19 vs.the Pass #1 vs.the run #21 points allowed
Those Giants defenses held the 49ers to 6 points total in the playoffs in 85-86. From 1984-1986 they met 5 times including the playoffs, SF scored a total of 3 points total in the 2nd half of those games
The Giants defenses did fine against them in 1985 and 1986 and not so great in 1981 and 1984...
Shanahan seems a lot like Walsh.
Is This Rain? Mike or Kyle
Steve L Kyle cuz he’s the coach for the Niners now lol
if i was a coach i would run west coast offense and wing t but i hate the spread offense.
We should of won more Super Bowls in the 80's AND 90's. We would be chasing 8 or 9 right now.
So why didn’t YOU? Did you not give it your all?
@@TL2354 Injury's, trades, blown calls, etc... Why you automatically think its not giving it your all? That kind of assuming dumb none thought out suggestion is what gets you a smart ass remark like "your just being a hater". Come with something else besides hate.
@@mfl8276 and yet y’all have 5
And the last two we went to that we lost damn we would have a lot😂
I'm a Cowboy fan ... But I always liked Bill Walsh ... He was a great coach HOF 💫
Loved Bill Walsh but Parcells/Belichick Was his kryptonite especially in the meadowlands
I may be a Pittsburgh steelers fan.from Pittsburgh.but the best QB .ever was joe montana
And Joe was from PA.
wolfmanrick Tom Brady. Period.
I'm a Steelers fan, and Bradshaw ain't even in the top five
I will disagree because of this-if you put Steve Young or Joe Montana in the NFL today, and both of them are in their prime, they thrive. You put Brady in the NFL of the '80's, where you could still beat the shit out of the QB and get away with it, Brady lasts 3 years, maybe 4. Also keep in mind that Montana never turned the ball over in an SB. He also never intentionally grounded the ball on the first play of the game, which then leads to a safety. Remember the SB in Indy? Just a few thoughts from a Packers fan and neutral observer.
whatever , you're just saying that because joe was from western PA..
RIP Bill 49er fans are forever FAITHFULL to you ❤💛❤💛
Gotta remember this: if I ever for some reason decide to hold up a gas station or some such, and the police are waiting with their guns as I come out, I should freeze, smile and say, "Officer, it was just a bit of gamesmanship."
1:24 I have seen this Jim Lynch tackle so many times, but never knew the significance
The 1980s 49ers were the greatest team ever.
Walsh would have loved Garappolo
Johnny Unitas was one of the main inventors of the west coast offense look him up and the influence he had on coaches and players
Your right. He absolutely did . Walsh saw it as an assistant in Cinncy and named it. Ask Tom Matte he will fight you over it.
@Damien Jones True but young Unitas was not a west coaster yet. Older post Eubank was when his deep ball went cold yes. Him and Don McCafferty came up with the scheme now called west coast offense. Ask any Baltimore Colt still alive who played with him. It's true. Short passes.3 step and two step drops and heavy on the tight end finding the seam in zone coverages.
@Damien Jones The west coast was originally Baltimore's 2 minute offense devised by Don McCafferty and Unitas. As Unitas skills grew weak as he aged it became the main offense in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ask Tom Matte. Ask Danny Sullivan Ernie Accorsi Dick Sysmanski Lenny Moore ask anyone alive from the 1968- 1971 Baltimore Colts. Shula didn't invent it it was the genius of Unitas and Don McCaffery. Ask Mcafferys son he's still alive. Bill Walsh was Bengals assistant and got beat by it in the 1970 playoffs. Lmao
Your right ! I saw it all go down in Baltimore as a youngster. Tom Matte tells the truth nothing against Walsh but he stole it. Its a copycat league to this day
If only Bill saw Madden nowadays...
This made me laugh so hard watching clowns play Madden in such a godawful fashion hahaha.
Alot more complex than i thought "Footwork"
God damn joe took a shot
Some of this offense was stolen from Archie Cooley the head coach of Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley St.Rice said that in his early yrs in San Francisco anything he used on offense he saw while in college.According to ppl who knew Cooley he was flown out to California to teach this explosive offense to Walsh.
Virgil Carter was the original Joe Montana
The timing of your feet Steve.. I am Like What?? LOL RIP Coach... you were a genius of football.
That offense to replace runs with short and midrange passing is brilliant. It still had the idea of long drives like a 'smash mouth' approach. These pass heavy offenses after the 99 rams are just garbage. They put too much pressure on the defense. It's not even feast or famine cause a quick score still hurts their own defense
49ers need to watch this!
Amazing how a great coach can make winning football games at the highest level so easy. Too bad Jerry Jones is allergic to hiring a coach of this elk smh
Walsh was a genius and shrewd.
So Joe Montana was a product of Bill Walsh he was a system player...
I'm kidding, but that's how you idiots sound when you call Brady a product or system QB. EVERY QB IS A SYSTEM QB. Joe and Tom just have amazing football minds that they took the system their in or were in and made it even better.
Ummm? Manning
Nicholas Pfarner manning played in the same system basically his whole career except his final year when he was trash
absolutely wrong. you just can't assume because he had a pretty bad seaskn doesn't mean he wasn't in a different system. manning never really had his own system he learned the in and outs of the current system he was in and he did this each time he got a new coach and he eventually was creating the offensive game plan and terminology with the coaches. his rookie season although not the best statistically he sat down with his coaches to revamp the system while most quarteebacks struggle to just learn the system. he truly was a student of the game and when your a student of the game for 30+ years and remember everything every coach taught you then your going to be able to tell your coach and offensive coordinator how to beat certain coverages, run against certain fronts, protection from the blitz. after mannings 2011 injury his right tricep never fully recover because I'm pretty sure he had damage in his nerves but his arm strength was never the same and as a result he learned to compensate by getting a stronger core and legs and instead of trying to out gun the defense he just tried to control the ball with more timing routes and plays that would open coverages up such as four very against cover looks. manning in his early years was very interesting to watch because his play action game was so good I've seen move the entire back 7 defenders with a playfake and as a result of the linebackers and even ty law biting so hard down on the fake manning would throw to a wide open Marvin Harrison or Austin collie who was a beast at the time. I'm not saying Brady is dumb but if he were to instantly get a new offensive coordinator I highly doubt he would have learned it fully like the way manning did. I knowbbrady could do it but manning did it so good he would look at it anytime he could even when he was in the hottub letting his body relax after his workout.
Nicholas Pfarner Brady had different coordinators as well not as much as manning. Sure the different coaches had different terminology but the core system was the same.
new england is the perfect example of the west coast offense
Not even close
corey thomas nope they achieve similar things but they actually use the “east coast offense” from the video, the Earnhardt Perkins offense. Giants, Pats, Saints, Texans and other Parcells/Belichick-related teams
corey thomas they use elements of the WCO, like most teams do. The pats also use elements of the run and shoot
A real coach
I would argue that it's east coast vs west coast vs Midwest.
By my count more super bowls have been won by teams running an offense with roots back to the Air Coryell system than the so called West Coast Offense. 1981,1987/1991 Redskins. 1992,1993.1995 Cowboys. 1999 St Louis Rams. 2006 Colts.2007 Saints,2008 Steelers, 2015/2017 Patriots. Actually the 2007 record setting offense 16-0 patriots also used it,but they fell short. The GSOT was a tweaked and very robust version of Air Coryell and both the Colts and Patriots installed their versions of it.
1999 Rams were all about the West coast offense...They had the dual threat RB in Faulk and Wrs in Bruce and Holt that specialized in running after the catch.
we talked about, my footwork and he said...look if you'll just follow the directions, and the footwork that goes with each pass pattern, I can tell you the timing for when to deliver the football and to who on your feet.
and I'm like, what???
lmao Steve young.
While cowboys and niners rivalry was THE rivalry in the game of football. I really enjoyed the giants-niners rivalry.
End of the day its the players, if you dont have the talent no system however innovative is useless.
When Bill Walsh retired as the 49ers coach and general manager he went straight to being an NFL game color commentator for NBC Sports I think it was his very first game where I heard him say that there have been many different ideas for offense and defense over the years with the Packers Steelers Cowboys and his 49ers. That there is no one formula for creating a Playbook for success. The only thing these teams have in common is there a bility to acquire Talent and recognize where they need to get better people. "It takes talent to win in the NFL" He said. I remember those words exactly.
martinishot Walsh was an underrated commentator and he would rip people. Watch the 1990 afc championship as he continuously blasts a clearly clueless and dazed art shell. Awesome content. But it was true, the level of incompetence was astounding and Walsh walked us through it step by step as it was developing. Nevertheless the owners hated him and had him taken off
Smash mouth vs finesse?
Has anyone seen the 49ers defense? Ronnie Lott is just one name of many greats
When I talk about footwork to noobie 49er Fans, I always use the quote from Ronnie Lott, which ends in "I was like Really Bill" ??? LOL
It would have been interesting to see how San Francisco would have done if they had played in the NFC East during the 80's instead of playing in the West with the Rams, Falcons, and the Saints. The Redskins, Giants, and Eagles and the Bears (in the Central) played a much different style than the 49ers.
The West Coast offense is a proven system that produces great results.
Back then it worked because it was just so different and new. There is not pure WCO system in the NFL nowadays. If anything is close, I would say Andy Reid's KC Chiefs play somewhat of a hybrid WCO. But more or less, it's gone now from today's NFL. It's more of a spread/air raid hybrid now. Secondaries are way too talented- bigger faster and stronger to have a pure WCO nowadays.
Remember when the pistol read option couldn't be stopped 5 years ago? That was thought to be the future- so teams started to draft all these running QBs after Cam is drafted. Well NFL defenses figured it out and stopped it. Plus the read option puts your QB in great risk of being hurt.
Agreed. On the other side of the ball, offenses figured out the 46 and Chicago had one year of dominance. I can only imagine if Miami had beaten the Pats what SB 20 would have been like.
Jason Mullins Exactly- Some teams simply can't beat other teams in certain systems. For example, the Raiders couldn't beat Buffalo in the AFC championship game in the '90 season. But some say that if the Raiders were to have beat Jim Kelly's K Gun offense, the Raiders would of beaten the NY Giants. You never know.
Marino and the dolphins seemed unstoppable that year. I don't know if you watched that recent '85 bears documentary before buddy died? The players on that defense claimed they would of won 3 in a row at least if certain players did not get hurt and if buddy never went to philly.
You have put me on a subject of which I have a lot of opinion. I respect San Francisco for what they did, but I don't think they would have four titles if they had to play the Giants and Redskins twice a year in the late 80s. Those two teams played a different kind of game than the 49ers. I'll admit I grew up a Skins fan, but to me, those were the dominant teams of 86-91. Gibbs and Parcells had to face each other two and sometimes three times every year. That's a different level of game than playing the Rams, Falcons and Saints of the same time.
Thank you very informational.
4:55 Man, I got Aaron Rodgers vibes with that little shovel pass. Good times!!!
Bill Walsh is up there with Landry and Paul brown in my eyes
I want to see more West Coast in college football
I trust in Kyle to lead the team for that 6th ring Feb 2.2020
Too bad. I lost a decent amount of money on that game
Montana getting hit at the end was brutal ..
That wasn't even the worst hit from the giants he got
A true class act
"I can tell you when and where to throw the ball based on your feet". "What?"
1987-1990 the 49ers were the cream of the crop and a four peat was a realistic possibility. I can’t help but to wonder what could’ve been. 😢
Great coaches change the game, of football.
This is why his West Coast offense worked he actually could run the ball too if they couldn't run the ball they wouldn't have won as much
A must watch for football fans
People only heard of the west coast offence when Montana played for Walsh. In college as well as in the Pro's Montana threw extremly accurate short passes, and was not very good at throwing a long ball. That changed when Rice joined the team and Montana quickly learned to throw a long ball in order to take advantage of Rice's considerable talent. Believe me if Walsh had coached Terry Bradshaw instead of Montana nobody would've ever heard of the West Coast offence.
Two things about what you said...Many of the "long" balls to RIce were actually short slants that turned into long balls. So in reality it didn't change much. Before RIce it was Freddie Solomon in that role. Freddie obviously wasn't as good as Rice but he was good and had deep speed and Montana when needed would stretch the defense by throwing long to him. But again, much of the Walsh passing was slants and outs designed to take advantage of the run after the catch--something Rice did better than anybody. Also, if Walsh had Terry Bradshaw he still would have done a similar thing since Bradshaw had some mobility. And if he didn't have enough, he would have traded Bradshaw as he got older for a QB that could. Steve DeBerg was no Bradshaw of course but he put up some great numbers under Walsh in 1979 and 1980 but he wasn't mobile and threw too many interceptions so when Montana was ready, DeBerg was traded to Denver in 1981. That's how Bill operated.
Michael Delfino Montana threw long balls to Rice. Its a fact. To bad you never saw that. Of course Montana to Rice on the slant was just about a guarantee 10 yards. Had Bradshaw in his prime played for Walsh, like Noll, Walsh would've took advantage of Bradshaws considerable talent, and the offence would have been called "The Bombs Away Bill Offence" LOL. To bad you never saw Bradshaw play.
t radar0412 Too bad I never saw that (Montana to RIce???? Are you kidding me? I;ve been a 49ers season ticket holder since 1974 (started going when I was 7). I saw EVERY one of them. I also saw a legion of very mediocre 49er QBs prior to Montana--Norm Snead, Tom Owen, Joe Reed, Scott Bull, Jim Plunket (in his 49er days he wasn't that good--blossomed with Raiders), etc...Saw my share. I didn't say Montana didn't throw long to Rice. He threw long to Rice. And he threw long to Freddie Solomon. But my point was that many of those "long" passes to Rice were also in fact 10-15 yard slants that Rice was able to out sprint the D and turn them into 80 yard plays. That's not a knock on Montana in any way. I worship the guy. My point was the play design was for it to be a 10-15 yard slant. Montana's passes were perfect and so was Jerry's routes and so was the timing and the play would end up being 80 yards. There were lots of those types of plays. Montana and Rice only played 6 seasons together. Montana was hurt in 1991 and 1992 and only played in the season finale of 1992 against Detroit. Montana had 6 seasons in the league before Rice was even there. SO yes i agree he threw long but there were also plenty of shorter plays turned into longer plays. And yes I saw Bradshaw play many times...Mostly on TV. Once in person against the 49ers--Monday night in 1978. No question he threw long too...Swan and Stallworth and others. I'm sure Walsh would have made Bradshaw even better than he was. That was no knock on Bradshaw. Walsh would have made anyone v=better. But Walsh didn't mess around...If you didn;t fit his system you were gone. And that meant anyone. My bad if that came out as a knock on Bradshaw. He was great. But no matter who he coached he still would have developed that offense eventually. No matter what it would have been ultimately called.
Small things make big things happen
The media have dubbed it the West Coast offense. Let’s call it what it is; the Bill Walsh offense.
best offense ever, look at some of the teams, that are undefeated.