Stop The Bill Walsh Silliness
January 14th, 2016
Joe has heard too often lately that the 1979 San Francisco 49ers were 2-14 under first-time NFL head coach Bill Walsh, and then 6-10 in 1980, before winning the Super Bowl in the following year.
The logic claims that because Niners owner Eddie DeBartolo was patient, the Bucs should have been patient with Lovie Smith.
Joe’s head is shaking.
DeBartolo took over the Niners and notoriously proclaimed he would run the team like a business in 1977, and he installed a new head coach. That guy was fired after the season. In 1978, DeBartolo hired another head coach, who was gone before the end of the season. And then 47-year-old Walsh was hired for ’79.
There was no grand display of patience in building the 49ers’ dynasty.
In Walsh’s 6-10 season of 1980, the Niners won three of their last five games and were very competitive in the season finale, losing 18-13 to an 11-5 Buffalo Bills team. They didn’t collapse like the Bucs did in 2015, while being led by a veteran head coach.
Joe would have brought back Lovie for the 2016 season, but not in any way because it somehow made historical sense.
January 14th, 2016 at 1:48 pm
Walsh also didn’t hire his kids as coaches and have them completely fail with them and not see the problem and let them go. This was a big part of his problem. A defense quality control coach who can’t help stop Penalties on defense. A safety coach who can’t teach safeties to cover the seam route and run the proper coverage for a cover 2, 3 and 4. These are basic things that his son couldn’t seem to teach. How about a secondary coach who couldn’t make adjustments to stop slant routes all season long. Something a high school defensive coach can do, but an NFL coach couldn’t. Coaching is what cost the team down the stretch and LOVIE HIS JOB.
January 14th, 2016 at 2:01 pm
Bill walsh was given more time because Eddie saw what he needed to see in a head coach. The Glazers did not see a successful program under Lovie, it’s that simple. Sure we got more wins, but it was hard not to have some success with a good qb and one of the easiest schedules in the league. The progress we saw in the defense was non existent. Leslie ran a better defense the year before, with less talent and a new system. Lovie should have been able to show obvious improvement in his defense. He did not. The koetter offense led Lovies team to a few wins. Lovies defense had maybe 1 or 2 decent showing, bit certainly not enough to convince the owners he was worthy of being he bucs HC.
Lovie may have gotten shafted in Chicago, but he got what he deserved here in Tampa.
January 14th, 2016 at 2:32 pm
Patience is given when there is progress and with Loser Lovie there was no progress
January 14th, 2016 at 2:39 pm
^^^Although there’s no point in arguing, 2-14 to 6-10 is progress. But, as many seem to think, Lovie had NOTHING to do with the offense!!! LOL
January 14th, 2016 at 2:41 pm
I hear the 49ers hired Chip Kelly as HC. Well scratch another coach off the list who was never on the Bucs list.
January 14th, 2016 at 2:50 pm
The next coach for the next two years will be Tom Coughlin. The coach in waiting
Dirk Koetter. The ten years renewal’s are coming up need a big name splash.
January 14th, 2016 at 3:06 pm
Enough with all the comparisons….different teams, different times, different players, different coaches, different competition, different owners, different GMs……How in the hell can you compare?
January 14th, 2016 at 3:19 pm
Lol
In the Beginning of Edward J. Debartolo Jr Reign in San Fran
The 49ers’ burned through “multiple” coaches and general managers.
Here’s the kicker….
He actually changed coaches fives times in 2 years.
Why you ask?
Because the Pursuit of Excellence is ALWAYS Better than Settling for Mediocrity.
January 14th, 2016 at 4:07 pm
Status Report – The Giants hired their OC as HC. The 49ers hired Chip Kelly. Coughlin withdrew his name from consideration in Philly. Titans hired our Director of Player Personnel as their new GM. There are no rumors circulating about Saban. Koetter is renewing his tags and talking to potential assistants, but has not been officially hired yet. Interestingly, the two teams rumored to be most interested in him, Dolphins and SF, have hired their HC’s.
Maybe Koetter is our next HC and the Bucs are just waiting for reasons we cannot imagine. Maybe we get surprised and Robinson hires him in Tennessee. Or, maybe he remains our OC and the Bucs hire McDermott as HC. Clear as mud.
January 14th, 2016 at 10:08 pm
In reading Bill Walsh’s book on leadership, the 1980 season was very tough on him. Aside from the fact that Bill Walsh was one of the most innovative coaches in the history of the game (and Lovie was nowhere near that), he did a brutal “inside the numbers” analysis of that 1980 team. He saw real progress in the offense and early in that 1980 season, replaced Steve Deberg full-time with Joe Montana. He saw the offense really improving.
That’s where any comparison should stop. After 1980, Walsh knew his defense was terrible. He didn’t go to Debartalo and tell him “everything’s just fine… we’re getting better”, he proposed changes… bringing in Hacksaw Reynolds and trading for Fred Dean… drafting 3 DB’s including Ronnie Lott to improve an awful secondary.
If you have few minutes, go on NFL.com and look at San Fran’s draft’s from 1979 to 1989. of those 10 only two were grand slams… the rest were mostly solid, but unspectacular..Jerry Rice and Roger Craig being the exceptions.
Jason Licht has the ability to get this team well in a hurry.
January 15th, 2016 at 2:03 am
Well, we were probably about a Mario Williams away from going 11-5…WITH Lovie.
…but then Koetter would’ve walked. So we had to fire the coach who put this together, because we might lose a sought after coordinator..
MAN, does THAT sound familiar (and for those willing to admit to picking up what I’m laying down…uhhh, how’d that work out for you anti-Grudenistas)?
Lets just cut the “foolishness”, both ways. Lovie was a good coach that deserved better than the bums rush. Here’s hoping Koetter avoids pressers that discuss big boy pads…
You’d think the Glazers would have stopped listening to guys like EYErah by now…but I’m sure those deep-pocketed luxury & club seat buyers are a powerful lobby…
Here’s also hoping that Dirk Koetter breaks the trend – and insures that the fans of Tampa Bay don’t have endure another 9 seasons of disappointment.