Page 1 of 1
Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '90s
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 2:34 pm
by 74_75_78_79_
Of course this doesn't have to only be a "does he win more or less than Seifert/Mariucci" thread, but also what player(s) he ends up keeping or trying to acquire in such a hypothetical. First off, does he sign Matt Millen in that '89 off-season? He obviously got to avoid having to allow the likes of Lott, Craig, and Joe to leave.
'Inheriting' or not, Seifert did go a staggering 108-35 (two Rings) his time as HC by the Bay! Would Walsh have been able to match or even better that in that time (does he go 13-3 then 12-4 in '97/'98 as well)? Or, unknown to everyone, was a 'different voice' actually what the doctor ordered after all? Was Walsh actually 'spent' following SBXXIII?
In either event, one thing we never did get to see...Bill Walsh vs Jimmy Johnson.
Re: Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '9
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 3:10 pm
by BD Sullivan
74_75_78_79_ wrote:Of course this doesn't have to only be a "does he win more or less than Seifert/Mariucci" thread, but also what player(s) he ends up keeping or trying to acquire in such a hypothetical. First off, does he sign Matt Millen in that '89 off-season? He obviously got to avoid having to allow the likes of Lott, Craig, and Joe to leave.
'Inheriting' or not, Seifert did go a staggering 108-35 (two Rings) his time as HC by the Bay! Would Walsh have been able to match or even better that in that time (does he go 13-3 then 12-4 in '97/'98 as well)? Or, unknown to everyone, was a 'different voice' actually what the doctor ordered after all? Was Walsh actually 'spent' following SBXXIII?
In either event, one thing we never did get to see...Bill Walsh vs Jimmy Johnson.
Walsh presumably still had an eye for talent and he wasn't afraid to take bows after their first SB title. So I have to think he would have had the ego to try and match or even better Lombardi's strong stretch of five titles in seven years.
He couldn't have been too spent from coaching, since he went back to Stanford for three years from 1992-94.
Re: Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '9
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 3:45 pm
by 74_75_78_79_
BD Sullivan wrote:74_75_78_79_ wrote:Of course this doesn't have to only be a "does he win more or less than Seifert/Mariucci" thread, but also what player(s) he ends up keeping or trying to acquire in such a hypothetical. First off, does he sign Matt Millen in that '89 off-season? He obviously got to avoid having to allow the likes of Lott, Craig, and Joe to leave.
'Inheriting' or not, Seifert did go a staggering 108-35 (two Rings) his time as HC by the Bay! Would Walsh have been able to match or even better that in that time (does he go 13-3 then 12-4 in '97/'98 as well)? Or, unknown to everyone, was a 'different voice' actually what the doctor ordered after all? Was Walsh actually 'spent' following SBXXIII?
In either event, one thing we never did get to see...Bill Walsh vs Jimmy Johnson.
Walsh presumably still had an eye for talent and he wasn't afraid to take bows after their first SB title. So I have to think he would have had the ego to try and match or even better Lombardi's strong stretch of five titles in seven years.
He couldn't have been too spent from coaching, since he went back to Stanford for three years from 1992-94.
What I meant was 'spent' at that very moment after the SB/season ended. Did he simply just need a break? It was a rough regular season leading up, Eddie putting the serious pressure on him to win it or else; and then he did win it and immediately/emotionally figured he may as well go. Maybe that wasn't the case but that's how I always saw it.
Re: Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '9
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:36 pm
by conace21
Remember, Walsh had been relieved of his GM cutie after the 1987 season. If he had stayed on, I still think SF wins Super Bowl XXIV. After that, it's tough to say. The biggest question is how Walsh would have handled the Montana-Young QB controversy after Montana had proved he wasn't washed up in SB XXIII.
Re: Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '9
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2019 11:54 pm
by lastcat3
conace21 wrote:Remember, Walsh had been relieved of his GM cutie after the 1987 season. If he had stayed on, I still think SF wins Super Bowl XXIV. After that, it's tough to say. The biggest question is how Walsh would have handled the Montana-Young QB controversy after Montana had proved he wasn't washed up in SB XXIII.
I think the Montana/Young thing still would have played out the same. Montana still wouldn't have played in '91 and I doubt Montana starts in '92 either under a Walsh lead 9er team. Honestly if Young wasn't starting in '92 I think he would have been traded and that may have kept the 49ers from winning it all in '94 (as while Montana was still a very good qb in '94 he wasn't as good as Young was at that point).
Re: Had Bill Walsh continued HC-ing SF through the entire '9
Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 4:05 pm
by JuggernautJ
There was a poignant article in the S.F. Chronicle this year regarding Bill Walsh's last season with the 49ers:
“He was like an old teddy bear,” Craig Walsh said, “and the stuffing had been knocked out of it. There was nothing left.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/artic ... 566258.php
So, it seems possible had he stayed on Walsh might well have had a nervous breakdown and/or left mid season.
That said, one of Walsh's biggest regrets was that he left "too early."
I'd like to think the 49ers would've been more successful with Walsh than Seifert but I don't know....
Maybe he left at what turned out to be the right time.
I do remember a humorous moment from a post-1989 rewards banquet that both Walsh and Randy Cross attended.
Cross was speaking and leaned forward on the dais so he could see Bill Walsh.
Cross mentioned the Niners success in winning the Super Bowl without them and then said something like "Well, Coach... I guessed they missed the hell out of us!"
Walsh chuckled but there was definitely a look of sadness in his eyes...