NFL: Each team’s greatest head coach in franchise history

San Francisco 49ers: Bill Walsh (1979-88)

Another team that had their entire fortunes changed by a brilliant coaching hire was the San Francisco 49ers. In 1979, the Niners hired Bill Walsh who had spent the past two seasons coaching at Stanford. A well-respected offensive mind, Walsh brought his West Coast offense to San Francisco and had amazing success with it.

In 10 seasons, he won 92 games and was an impressive 10-4 in the postseason. He also won two Super Bowls in that span but proved to be more than just a good coach, he was a great talent evaluator. Walsh was responsible for drafting both Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, two of the best to ever play in the NFL.

Not only was Walsh an innovator, but he was also a great mentor. Walsh worked with George Seifert as a defensive coach for years, which included him being the defensive coordinator for Walsh from 1983 through 1988. He was there for Walsh’s two championships, but then won two more of his own after taking over for Walsh in 1989.

An argument can be made that Seifert was the better coach of the two, but he did use a lot of the offense that Walsh created which makes it difficult to imagine Seifert would have had as much success as he did without the help of his former boss — who also remained his boss afterward, as Walsh moved into a general manager role after stepping away from the coaching ranks.

Other great coaches who worked under Walsh include Mike Holmgren, Sam Wyche and Dennis Green. Talk about an impressive coaching tree.