The wizardry of Walsh = Wins in 08'?
Posted 05-23-2008 at 02:36 PM by Mykle VanHausen
Orig. posted May, 12th, 2008
Though Al Davis left the team in April of 1966 to become Commissioner of the American Football Conference, he still held enough sway to convince a Raider assistant from that era to stop by for a chat with Lane Kiffin, his new Coach.
That man, was Bill Walsh. Though he hated the term and never used it by some accounts, is widely credited with bringing to preeminence what we know today as "the West Coast Offense".
After assistant stints at California and Stanford, and in between fielding a rudimentary version for Paul Brown in Cleveland before eventually joining the then AFL Oakland Raiders.
Davis and Walsh, despite being on field rivals for decades, forged a friendship that lasted through out the years.
And that, despite the fact Walsh had revealed his two year battle with leukemia only in November, is the reason why Walsh agreed to the meeting June 14th with the young Kiffin.
Reports state it was Kiffin who had asked owner Al Davis to set up the "Dream date", which turned out to be a practice and then lunch.
Kiffin has been quoted as saying he prepared a long time for his visit with Walsh and no doubt gleaned as much information as possible from their short visit.
And that was good, because Mr. Walsh succumbed to his illness the very next month on the 30th of July.
Its entirely possible the lessons learned in that one afternoon will be evident in new wrinkles Kiffin may throw at Defenses starting in 2008.
(And its a certainty Walsh's innovations will be utilized in some form or another on nearly every sideline in 08' and in years to com.)
Kiffin showed some brilliant designs a time or two last year and the promise of more to come, combined with his new weapons is intriguing indeed.
While Walsh's visit to the Raiders is unique in the wake of his untimely passing, it certainly wasn't an isolated event.
He spent time with former Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, mentoring on drafting and contract negotiations and also,with Bill Bellick who sought out his wise council in years past.
Most of us know what happened to those Franchises.
Though Al Davis left the team in April of 1966 to become Commissioner of the American Football Conference, he still held enough sway to convince a Raider assistant from that era to stop by for a chat with Lane Kiffin, his new Coach.
That man, was Bill Walsh. Though he hated the term and never used it by some accounts, is widely credited with bringing to preeminence what we know today as "the West Coast Offense".
After assistant stints at California and Stanford, and in between fielding a rudimentary version for Paul Brown in Cleveland before eventually joining the then AFL Oakland Raiders.
Davis and Walsh, despite being on field rivals for decades, forged a friendship that lasted through out the years.
And that, despite the fact Walsh had revealed his two year battle with leukemia only in November, is the reason why Walsh agreed to the meeting June 14th with the young Kiffin.
Reports state it was Kiffin who had asked owner Al Davis to set up the "Dream date", which turned out to be a practice and then lunch.
Kiffin has been quoted as saying he prepared a long time for his visit with Walsh and no doubt gleaned as much information as possible from their short visit.
And that was good, because Mr. Walsh succumbed to his illness the very next month on the 30th of July.
Its entirely possible the lessons learned in that one afternoon will be evident in new wrinkles Kiffin may throw at Defenses starting in 2008.
(And its a certainty Walsh's innovations will be utilized in some form or another on nearly every sideline in 08' and in years to com.)
Kiffin showed some brilliant designs a time or two last year and the promise of more to come, combined with his new weapons is intriguing indeed.
While Walsh's visit to the Raiders is unique in the wake of his untimely passing, it certainly wasn't an isolated event.
He spent time with former Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, mentoring on drafting and contract negotiations and also,with Bill Bellick who sought out his wise council in years past.
Most of us know what happened to those Franchises.
Total Comments 0
Comments
Recent Blog Entries by Mykle VanHausen
- No New Numbers mean Nothing to Nnamdi (07-15-2008)
- Broncos in trouble in 08' after losing devastating Offensive weapon (07-07-2008)
- STAR WARS: Rooks vs Vets How does this affect the game and fans? (07-02-2008)
- Fans, team, unite around one of their own (06-19-2008)
- Getting a little perspective on the Javon Walker incident (06-18-2008)
