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Press Box Dave Reardon |
Walsh’s words don’t
usually come so cheapYou've stumbled upon the real Deal Of The Day: A $20,000 value for free.
Bill Walsh's speaking fee is at least 20K, according to the Jeri Charles Associates speakers bureau, and we're gonna give away the pearls he dispersed at Dave & Buster's the other day (don't worry coach, we'll respect your wishes and not disclose your prediction for the USC-UH game ... that could hurt the SoCal leg of your tour).
Now, I don't know if the Hawaiian Islanders paid 20 large to the original Genius Coach for all those public appearances he made last week in Hawaii. Walsh was probably paying off Mike Vasconcellos for an old tennis bet. He also alluded to John Wilbur, one of his former players at Stanford, possessing substantial dirt on him.
Anyway, here's the Best of Bill Walsh, free of charge (if you feel guilty, send me a check).
The toughest things he had to do as a coach: "I had to manipulate them into retiring and I had to replace Joe Montana in a serious game."
Sideline vocabulary: "I used the word bleep a lot."
His coaching style: "You motivate people to do the same thing over and over again so they do it by rote and it's instinctive when they play."
Handling success: "We had 48 players when we won that first Super Bowl. The next year 11 self-destructed. Overnight they became national darlings and alcohol, drugs, resentment and spouse abuse got them."
Joe Montana's first day as a 49er: "We all assumed the place-kicker we'd just signed had arrived."
Getting along with players: "If you're a players' coach, you're a loser. Because the players are laughing at you."
Terrell Owens: "This year Terrell will arrive in a sports car, or maybe he'll come in on a horse. He's thinking about it right now."
New 49ers assistant Dick Tomey, age 64: "I think he has a heckuva future in the NFL."
Former Alabama coach Mike Price: "Thank God Dick's character isn't like Mike's."
June Jones: "One of the greatest coaches in football, at any level. And he and I won our golf game yesterday."
Being the underdog: "You're going to try harder than USC? No, it's being good at what you do. Getting better and better and executing. The key element is executing."
The coaches' cult of personality: "Leadership isn't histrionics. It's being good at something you do."
What he told the Niners before their 92-yard, last-gasp drive to win the 1989 Super Bowl: "We practiced that for 10 straight years with basically the same group of guys. Did I have to say anything? No."
The value of talk: "I didn't make inspirational speeches. By the time they get out there on the field, they forget everything you said."
What a great scam if it still works that way -- great for repeat business.
Walsh still has that stately air about him. But I learned that the man most responsible for the 49ers dynasty in the 1980s -- as well as their finesse and wine-and-cheese image -- was actually quite a brawler.
His mentor, Paul Brown, once questioned if Walsh was tough enough to be a head coach in the NFL. Walsh, who always did and always will look like a country-club guy, cited his boxing background.
"I had 70 amateur fights. What do you need?"
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail Dave: dreardon@starbulletin.com