After Walsh left 49ers, he worked as a sports broadcaster for several years but later return as head coach at Stanford for three seasons. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Bill Walsh was born as William Ernest Walsh on November 30, 1931, in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in the San Francisco where he attended the Hayward High School. He played as the running back for the San Francisco Bay area during his high school years.
For College, Bill Walsh joined San Mateo where he played for the college football team as a quarterback for two seasons. However, he later transferred to San Jose State University and continued to play college football this time as a tight end and defensive end. He graduated from San Jose State with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1955.
Bill Walsh served as a graduate assistant coach on the Spartans football coaching staff under Bob Bronzan. After he completed his master's degree, he coached the football and swim teams at Washington High School in Fremont, California. He later went to become the assistant coach at the University of California with Marv Levy as the head coach.
Walsh's time at the pro scene came in 1966 when he became the assistant for the AFL's Oakland Raiders. He became familiar with the vertical passing offense during his time as a Raider assistant. The following year, Walsh became the head coach and general manager of the San Jose Apaches of the Continental Football League. His coaching led the Apaches to a 2nd place finish in the Pacific Division.
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Bill Walsh joined the staff of coach Paul Brown in 1968 for the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Bengals. After the end of 1975 season, Brown had appointed Bill Johnson to be his successor which led Walsh to resign and serve as assistant coach for San Diego Chargers in 1976.
Walsh became the head coach at Stanford in 1977 and stayed with the team for two seasons. His Stanford teams showed successful results and he was elected the Pac-8 Conference Coach of the Year in 1977.
In 1979, Bill Walsh was hired as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The team had an abysmal record prior to Walsh's entry. The first season he was the head coach did not improve by much but the team started to play more competitive football. From the beginning of the 1980 season, things began to be different for the team with the team showing better results with each passing week.
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The 49ers won Super Bowl Championships in 1981, 1984 and 1988 under the guidance of Bill Walsh. He served as their head coach for 10 years during which he won 10 of his 14 postseason games, six division titles and three NFC Championship titles. He was nicknamed "The Genius" for both his innovative play calling and design. He was elected in the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
After the 49ers third victory in Super Bowl, Walsh worked as a broadcaster for NBC leaving behind his career as a coach. He made a return to Stanford as head coach in 1992 and left the team in 1994. He also wrote three books, was a motivational speaker and taught classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Bill Walsh married his wife Geri in 1954. He had two sons, Craig, and Steven and a daughter Elizabeth from his marriage. He lost one of his son, Steve, in 2002. He was together with his wife until his death.
Bill Walsh died on July 30, 2007, at his home in Woodside, California. His death was caused by leukemia which he had been suffering from. Following his death, the playing field at the former Candlestick Park was renamed Bill Walsh Field.
Bill Walsh is arguably the greatest coach of his time. Leading and underperforming team to various titles and Superbowl trophies resulted in the team to be willing to pay him more to keep him in San Francisco. He reportedly made $1.3 million in salary. With his huge salary, he was sure to have had a huge net worth, but there is little to no information as to how much his actual net worth is.
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