The Passing of a coaching legend-By Dr. Bill Chachkes

I just couldn't not say something about one of the greats in the game.

It’s been well documented that Coach Walsh has been sick for quite some time, and that he was losing his fight to Leukemia. Everyone focuses on the “Walsh” tree or the “Parcells” tree of coaching. Walsh came from a tree as well. He was a student of the late Paul Brown, who led the Cleveland Browns to numerous Titles during the “Golden Age” of pro football. One of Brown’s assistants for a short time at the end of Brown’s career, another assistant on the staff had an impact on Walsh. He was Blanton Collier. Never heard of him you say? Well, you have football highlights and game study footage because of Blanton Collier. Walsh took much of Collier’s development of film study and molded it into his own planning. Walsh was a master of planning going back to his days as head coach of the Stanford Cardinal. Walsh served as an assistant with Brown in Cincinnati before resigning to become an assistant to Tommy Prothro in San Diego. Then it was on to Stanford for Walsh, where he made wine out of water, until the NFL came calling again.

Walsh would say years later that he never wanted to come back to the NFL, but he loved a challenge, and the 49ers were just that. He was 47 when he took over in the bay area, and in just a decade the Niners went from the bottom to the top, winning 3 superbowls, including two over one of his pupils, Sam Wyche in Cincinnati. His Quarterback in San Francisco was Joe Montana, who would say, “outside of my own dad he was the closest person to me, the most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him.” Another football man who asked to remain nameless told us late monday night, " He was the Kindest gentleman i ever met. I was truly blessed to know him even briefly."

The most prolific quote however comes from Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren who says, “He was an Artist, the rest of us were Blacksmiths.”

Some had said the Walsh was falling behind the times when the 49ers lost to the Giants 49-3 in a 1986 playoff game. Attending that game in person i watched the opposing sidelines for any sign of anger fron Coach Walsh. There was none. Walsh Just shrugged it off and reloaded the Niners again. Many will miss him, but all loved him.