NFL: Bill Walsh

[AUTiger7222]

I just read a great part in the book. Bill Walsh came up with the West Coast offense when he was QB's coach with the Bengals. The QB the Bengals had at the time, Virgil Carter, couldn't hit the broad side of a barn more than 20 yards down the field.

So Walsh had to come up with a way to for the Bengals offense to have success with Carter at QB. So he came with the West Coast offense with was a complex mix of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends running routes all over the field in a 10-15 yard range. He stretched the field horizontal instead of going vertical.

This new offense called for the QB to make fast quick decisions and get rid of the ball in a position to allow the receiver to make plays after they caught the ball.

By the time he got to the 49ers he had perfected his offense and then he found the perfect QB to run his offense, in a 3rd round pick in 1979 from Notre Dame, named Joe Montana. And the rest is history as they say.