In The Genius: How Bill Walsh Reinvented Football and Created an NFL Dynasty, author David Harris, '67, provides a play-by-play account of the innovative football coach's life, especially his years with the San Francisco 49ers. The biography (Random House, $26) gives due credit to the man who developed the legendary West Coast offense, which changed the game on the field, and the Minority Coaching Fellowship, which foresaw the need to change the game in the front office.
But the theme of the book might be the ambiguity Walsh felt in the wake of accomplishment: his motto could have been “Nothing recedes like success.” From his early NFL career as the unsung strategist behind Cincinnati coach Paul Brown through his coaching seasons at Stanford to his three Super Bowl victories, Walsh was plagued by self-doubt. The nickname he earned for his pass-heavy offense and his ability to spot talent also reflected his managerial gifts and diverse knowledge. Yet being “The Genius” was a trial during the sport's inevitable reversals. Lineman Randy Cross, commenting on the heightened expectations that met Walsh after the 49ers' “miracle” season of '81, said, “[H]e was still called Bill but he was never just Bill anymore. He had something more to live up to.”
As Harris, who did extensive interviews with Walsh before his death in 2007, writes, “Bill's career would be conducted in the shadow of a standard of mastery that was often impossible to meet, no matter how smart he was or how hard he tried.”
