Bill Walsh
Bill Walsh went 34–24–1 as a head coach, 1977–1994, at Stanford. Share
- Record
- 34–24–1 career
- Seasons
- 5
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Best season
- 1992 10–3, No. 9
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Stanford | 9–3 | T–2nd | Sun Bowl W | 15 | |
| 1978 | Stanford | 8–4 | T–4th | Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl W | 17 | |
| 1979–91: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1992 | Stanford | 10–3 | T–1st | Blockbuster Bowl W | 9 | |
| 1993 | Stanford | 4–7 | T–8th | |||
| 1994 | Stanford | 3–7–1 | T–8th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Guy BenjaminConsensus All‑American, 1977- Gordon KingNo. 10 pick, 1978
- Darrien GordonNo. 22 pick, 1993
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 21 | 8–13 | 38% |
| Against top-10 teams | 9 | 2–7 | 22% |
| Against rivals | 27 | 15–12 | 56% |
| Conference games | 38 | 19–19 | 50% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 3–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 27 | 13–13–1 | 50% |
| At home | 30 | 19–11 | 63% |
| On the road | 25 | 12–12–1 | 50% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 3–1 | 75% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 34 | 27–6–1 | 81% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 25 | 7–18 | 28% |
His own 59 games on file, 1977–1994, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Donahue 1977–1994 | 2–3 | UCLA | 5 | |
| Rich Brooks 1977–1994 | 3–1 | Oregon | 4 | |
| John Robinson 1977–1994 | 0–4 | USC | 4 | |
| Larry Smith 1977–1992 | 3–0 | Tulane, USC | 3 | |
| Jerry Pettibone 1992–1994 | 3–0 | Oregon State | 3 | |
| Keith Gilbertson 1992–1994 | 1–2 | California | 3 | |
| Lou Holtz 1992–1994 | 1–2 | Notre Dame | 3 | |
| Don James 1977–1992 | 0–3 | Washington | 3 | |
| Dick Tomey 1992–1994 | 0–3 | Arizona | 3 |
Bill Walsh’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| San José Stateseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Oregon Stateseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Californiaseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| UCLAseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| USCseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Washingtonseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Oregonseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Washington Stateseries | 3 | 3–0 |
Also a player: Bill Walsh’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957–59 | Washington HS (CA) high school | Head coach | |
| 1960–62 | California | Receivers coach | |
| 1963–65 | Stanford | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1966 | Oakland Raiders NFL | Running backs coach | |
| 1967 | San Jose Apaches | Head coach | |
| 1968–75 | Cincinnati Bengals NFL | Assistant coach | |
| 1976 | San Diego Chargers NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1977–78 | Stanford | Head coach | |
| 1979–88 | San Francisco 49ers NFL | Head coach | |
| 1992–94 | Stanford | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Marv LevyCalifornia
- John RalstonStanford
- Paul BrownCincinnati Bengals
- Tommy ProthroSan Diego Chargers
Assistants who became head coaches
- Dennis GreenNorthwestern, Stanford, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, California Redwoods / Sacramento Mountain Lions
- Fred von AppenHawai’i
- Norb HeckerAtlanta Falcons
- Ron DowhowerStanford, Vanderbilt, Indianapolis Colts
- Tom LovatUtah
- Charles StudleyCincinnati, Massachusetts
- Mike WhiteCalifornia, Illinois, Oakland Raiders
- Sam WycheIndiana, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Paul HackettPittsburgh, USC
- Lynn StilesSan José State
- Terry SheaSan José State, Rutgers
- Tom HolmoeCalifornia
- and 2 more
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marv Levy | California | 1960–62 | Receivers coach | |
| John Ralston | Stanford | 1963–65 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Paul Brown | Cincinnati Bengals NFL | 1968–75 | Assistant coach | |
| Tommy Prothro | San Diego Chargers NFL | 1976 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (14)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis Green | Stanford, 1977–78: running backs coach; San Francisco 49ers, 1979: special teams coach; 1986–88: wide receivers coach | Northwestern, Stanford, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, California Redwoods / Sacramento Mountain Lions | |
| Fred von Appen | Stanford, 1977–78: defensive line coach; San Francisco 49ers, 1983–88: special teams coach; Stanford, 1992–94: defensive coordinator | Hawai’i | |
| Norb Hecker | Stanford, 1977–78: linebackers coach; San Francisco 49ers, 1979: defensive backs coach; 1980–86: linebackers coach | Atlanta Falcons | |
| Ron Dowhower | Stanford, 1977–78: wide receivers coach | Stanford, Vanderbilt, Indianapolis Colts | |
| Tom Lovat | Stanford, 1977–78: offensive line coach | Utah | |
| Charles Studley | San Francisco 49ers, 1979–82: defensive coordinator | Cincinnati, Massachusetts | |
| Mike White | San Francisco 49ers, 1979: offensive line coach | California, Illinois, Oakland Raiders | |
| Sam Wyche | San Francisco 49ers, 1979–82: quarterbacks coach | Indiana, Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| Paul Hackett | San Francisco 49ers, 1983–85: quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends coach | Pittsburgh, USC | |
| Lynn Stiles | San Francisco 49ers, 1987–88: assistant coach | San José State | |
| Terry Shea | Stanford, 1992–94: assistant head coach and offensive coordinator | San José State, Rutgers | |
| Tom Holmoe | Stanford, 1992–93: defensive backs coach | California | |
| Doug Cosbie | Stanford, 1993–94: assistant coach | Menlo | |
| Tom Williams | Stanford, 1993–94: graduate assistant | Yale |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.