Walsh’s Future Remains On Hold : San Francisco Coach to Meet With Owner Next Week

Bill Walsh has his “lifetime experience,” a third Super Bowl title, but he’s not ready to say that he won’t try for more. And some of his players don’t want him to quit just yet.

“I think Bill’s got like 2 or 3 more years in him. At least, I hope so,” Jerry Rice said after the San Francisco 49ers beat Cincinnati, 20-16, Sunday for their third championship of the decade.

Is the coach finished?

“I’m not about to say that,” Walsh said. “(Team owner Eddie DeBartolo) and I have to visit. This is a lifetime experience. . . . This is the greatest moment I can recall with the San Francisco 49ers.”

Speculation that Walsh will resign hounded him throughout the 2 weeks leading to the Super Bowl.

“I’m going to meet with Eddie DeBartolo, as I’ve said all along, early next week,” Walsh said. “And we’ll decide what our future should be.”

There have been reports that the relationship between Walsh and DeBartolo is strained.

While receiving the Super Bowl trophy, DeBartolo said, “This trophy is Bill Walsh’s trophy.”

Said Walsh, “I appreciate the thought. I’m so proud of everybody. Eddie DeBartolo, our entire organization.”

In the locker room, Walsh wore a half-smile as he hugged and shook hands with well-wishers, his players and DeBartolo.

The closest Walsh came in the past week to hinting about whether he will return was when he told reporters it is difficult for a Super Bowl championship team to repeat.

Walsh acted all day as though it was just another game, rather than his last. He was impassive throughout, including when the 49ers missed a 19-yard field goal and when Cincinnati’s Stanford Jennings returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

In the final seconds, as San Francisco drove for the winning touchdown, Walsh paced the sidelines with his hands on his waist.

When the game ended, the coach was surrounded by photographers. He walked slowly off the field with his right arm around Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche, a former assistant.

“I love him very much,” Walsh said later. “We’re very close.”

There has been speculation that if Walsh resigns, Wyche will succeed him.