Bill Walsh was the Head Coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979-1988 where he won three Super Bowls. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in the game of football, who popularized theWest Coast Offense, which remains the most popular offensive system used in the NFL today. Still, Walsh's biggest contribution to the game is with the numerous former and current NFL head coaches who trace their lineage back to him: Bill Walsh Coaching Tree. He was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1993. He was named the UPI NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984.

Michael Silver of cnnsi.com said this, "It was Walsh, after all, who not only revolutionized football strategy with the West Coast Offense, but who also created the organizational blueprint for the modern franchise, from the down-to-the-precise-minute daily schedule to the filming of practices and play-installation meetings."  The number of coaches who learned under Walsh is a testament to his greatness. 

Bill Walsh also wrote the book Finding the Winning Edge.  It is probably the best football coaching book ever written, not from an X's and O's standpoint, but in the preparation, planning, and teaching process of the football program. The book is now hard-to-find, but it is worth the price if a copy can be found.

He was the Head Coach at Stanford University from 1977-1978 and from 1992-1994 for a team with limited talent. He was named the 1977 Pac-8 Coach of the Year and led the Stanford Cardinal to a Pac-10 Co-Championship and to a #9 ranking in 1992.