The legendary Bill Walsh passed away on July 30, 2007 after a long battle with leukemia. Born in 1931, Walsh played college football at San Jose State before graduating in 1954. His coaching tenure began as a part-time assistant at San Jose State where he later received a master’s degree in education in 1959. In 1960, Walsh was named defensive coordinator at Cal, and in 1963 he joined the Stanford staff as a defensive back coach.

Walsh began his pro coaching debut in 1966 with the Oakland Raiders before moving around from Cincinnati to San Diego. He returned to college football in 1977 as the head coach at Stanford. But Walsh’s time in Palo Alto would be brief, as he was named head coach and general manager of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979. His honors with the 49ers include being named NFL coach of the year in 1981, and victories in Super Bowls XVI, XIX, and XXII. His last Super Bowl victory would be his last as an NFL head coach, retiring following the game. In 1992 Walsh returned to Stanford as head coach for three seasons, leading the Cardinals to a Pac-10 title.

Walsh will be remembered through his teachings of an offensive scheme later to be known as the West Coast Offense. During the 1990’s, much of the NFL adopted the innovative scheme. Walsh’s offensive philosophy focused their attack around establishing the passing game to later open up the run.

Bill Walsh is survived by his wife, Geri, and two children, Craig and Elizabeth.