49ers’ Architect Admits Having Second Thoughts

As coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh won three Super Bowl titles before stepping down in January 1989. Walsh, considered one of the greatest offensive minds in the game, returned to coaching at Stanford from 1992-94.

Walsh, who turns 71 this month, served as vice president and general manager of the 49ers from 1999-2001 and is now a consultant for the team.

Question: How much do you miss coaching?

Answer: I miss coaching quite a bit. I’m just not ready to go six months without a day off. When I returned to Stanford we did OK the first year. We had a really great team. But people expected too much. When you’ve won and been very successful and you do return, they expect miracles and sometimes those don’t occur. George Seifert’s a good example.

Q: Do you regret that you stepped away the first time?

A: I think so. If I had some time off, I’m sure I could have remained for two or three more years, and I think we would have won some Super Bowls. I just had total burnout. I guess you’d call it a meltdown, by handling all these different jobs. I was the president, general manager and head coach, and it finally caught up to me. If I could have taken three months off, I could have made it. But you can’t do that, there aren’t any sabbaticals in sports.

Q: Just as a coach, would you be interested in coming back?

A: Well, it’s almost a fantasy at this point, because that’s not going to happen. I think I was at my best on the sidelines during a game and managing a game. But the game has changed; it’s evolved. It’s different.

Q: You say a fantasy. Do you mean it’s a fantasy because you don’t think any team would hire you?

A: I don’t know that. But it would have to be an elderly owner, I guess, that could appreciate me.

Q: As you said, you were president, general manager and head coach. With the NFL the way it is now, should coaches serve as both coach and general manager?

A: It takes a unique person to do both. Mike Holmgren is and so is Mike Shanahan. Personnel and coaching can effectively be done by one person, but rarely is there an outstanding coach who is an outstanding personnel man.

Q: Why?

A: I don’t know. Some of the best coaches made some of the poorest personnel decisions and the poorest acquisitions that basically brought them down.

Q: Is being stubborn about the players you pick a big part of it?

A: Yes. You end up staying with the wrong person because you want to give him every chance. You don’t want him to fail, because if he does, so have you. You end up waiting too long, and then it finally costs you.

Q: In your job as a consultant for the 49ers, how much input do you have, and how involved are you on a day-to-day basis?

A: I have input and I’m involved. Every two weeks, I’ll bring a series of expertly diagramed plays to Steve Mariucci. Occasionally, you’ll see one on the field. But probably the most impact I have is with the players. I have an excellent relationship with them. I’m pretty strong with them, and driven, and they accept it. Because I have a great relationship with Steve, it’s working out well. I just get great satisfaction from the feeling that I’m appreciated and well-received.

Q: What was it that you saw in Jeff Garcia that others didn’t, because you were one of his biggest supporters early on?

A: When he was at San Jose State, we played against him when I was coaching at Stanford. He looked so much like Joe Montana. He’s not as aesthetic or artistic in appearance, but he has the spontaneity, the instincts, the mobility and is a great competitor and performer. So that’s what I saw. I can’t understand it, but a lot of people didn’t see it. Some of the people I trust and believe in the most would take my recommendation to their personnel people and they would just say, “Not a chance. Walsh has gone soft.”

Q: You mention Joe Montana. What current NFL quarterback, if any, looks the most like Montana to you?

A: Tom Brady appears much like Joe. He plays with the same style and composure. He’s not quite as athletic, because Joe could avoid people and run a little better. But he’s very, very close.

Q: How would you handle the antics and behavior of today’s players, such as Randy Moss, and in a much different way Terrell Owens?

A: Well so much of it in my era was peer pressure from the other players. We took on some guys who had sort of questioned or troubled pasts, and they just melded right in with the other players because they could see that it’s not acceptable to behave like that here. If you wanted to be a part of the team, and everybody did, you were responsive to your teammates. Now, I would have to establish an environment with some mores and set parameters. You would have to live within those boundaries or you would have to play somewhere else. The 49ers have brought in some people that everyone would question and somehow they made it. A team that has always done it and been very successful is the Raiders. But no matter how great the player is, be it Randy or Terrell, they would have to live within the parameters.

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Jim Gray is host of “Monday Night Football” on Westwood One Radio, works with Showtime, and is a contributor on NBC’s “Today Show.”