Reports: Walsh Taking Stanford Coaching Job : Football: Former 49er coach is expected to be named replacement for Dennis Green today.

Bill Walsh has accepted an offer to return to Stanford as its football coach, according to media reports.

Walsh, who coached at Stanford in 1977 and ‘78, was offered a five-year contract worth $350,000 a year by Stanford Athletic Director Ted Leland, the San Francisco Examiner reported Wednesday.

The Examiner and ESPN said a news conference will be held today at Burnham Pavilion.

The Stanford job opened Friday when Dennis Green announced he was leaving to become coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

ESPN also reported today that Walsh will take recently retired Denver Bronco quarterback Gary Kubiak to Stanford as an assistant coach.

According to the Examiner, San Jose State Coach Terry Shea will announce his resignation to become Walsh’s offensive coordinator.

Three days before Green’s announcement, KMPC’s Jim Healy reported Stanford had made an offer to Walsh. Healy at the time speculated that Walsh, who lives only 10 minutes away from the Palo Alto campus, might accept.

Last Sunday, ESPN reported Stanford was a definite option for Walsh, and Healy, in a follow-up report Monday, said the offer to Walsh included a radio-TV package and consultant fees that would beef up his salary considerably.

It appeared last week that Walsh, who coached the San Francisco 49ers for 10 years, would give up his job as a football analyst with NBC and return to the 49ers in an executive position. Walsh would have been in charge of the draft and possible trades.

Sources say that after 49er Coach George Siefert became uncomfortable with that idea, Walsh backed off.

Stanford made its offer more attractive to Walsh, telling him he would have few recruiting and fundraising responsibilities and could bring in his own offensive coordinator.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday that Stanford assistant coaches would do most of the recruiting, and Walsh would only be required at final visits to secure prospects’ letters of intent.

Besides Shea, Walsh is expected to bring other assistant coaches.

Michael Young, a teammate and close friend of Kubiak with the Broncos, said the backup quarterback and Walsh talked after a practice last week, and that Walsh told Kubiak he would recommend him for a coaching position at Stanford. Young said there was no indication at the time that Walsh would be the head coach.

In his previous stint at Stanford, Walsh’s teams had a 17-7 record and won two bowl games.

Walsh, in an interview more than a year ago, was asked about returning to the college ranks.

“Maybe to a small college where there was no recruiting and no pressure,” he said. Pressed to name one in this category, he said: “I don’t think any such school exists.”

Walsh also said at the time that there is pressure with any coaching job. “You might tell yourself there isn’t pressure, but there always is, no matter where you’re coaching.”

A former colleague, Mike Holmgren, found his reaction mixed.

“I’m surprised, but not surprised because he talked about how much he enjoyed coaching,” said Holmgren, a former 49er assistant coach who was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers last week.

There have been reports that NBC was planning to demote Walsh and move Bill Parcells into his spot as No. 1 commentator on pro football. In this scenario, Walsh would have stayed on the Notre Dame telecasts but worked less-prominent regional NFL telecasts.

Walsh, in an interview last week, said he would be willing to accept a lesser position. But others close to Walsh said he was hurt.

Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports, said last week that if Walsh stayed at NBC, he would remain as the No. 1 commentator.

But others said Terry O’Neil, NBC’s executive producer, who is under Ebersol, was pushing for Parcells. They said Walsh had a choice of either returning to NBC in a lesser role and collect his $650,000-a-year salary, or leave NBC and get $275,000 as a buyout on the final year of his contract.

Walsh joined NBC in 1989 after coaching the 49ers to their third Super Bowl championship during his tenure.

Walsh established a friendship with his partner, Dick Enberg. The possibility of Walsh working on Notre Dame telecasts with Enberg, but on NFL games with someone else, could have made the decision to leave NBC a little easier.