The "Genius", Bill Walsh, dead at 75

Former Stanford and San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh has passed away at 75. Being a Dallas Cowboy fan, I couldn't stand him at times. Being a coach and former QB, I basically worshipped at the altar of his teachings: The famed "West Coast" offense. It was (and is) an offense I believe in and enjoyed playing in. It's a complicated offense (I've seen playbooks 500-600 pages thick based on the offense) that relies on short passes in an attempt to "out flank" one's opponent. If you are a pass catcher, you don't have to be super fast, if you are a pass thrower, you don't have to have a big arm. Your running backs don't have to be the prototypical "I" back (i.e. 20-25 carries a game running from the I-formation), they do need to be able to catch, as do your tight ends, who by the way don't have to be enourmous either. A genius offense that can make an average team competitive, and a good team great. Some of the philosophy comes from Paul Brown, but most of it was perfected by Bill Walsh. The football world lost a legend today, even if he was a 49er.