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He was born in Los Angeles
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He started his career in the San Francisco Bay Area as a running back for Hayward High School in Hayward.
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He began his pro coaching career as an assistant with the AFL's Oakland Raiders. He was trained in a verbal passing offense.
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Bill Walsh was Hired as the head coach at Standford where he stayed for 2 seasons. His two Stanford teams went 9-3 in 1977 with a win in the Sun Bowl, and 8-4 in 1978 with a win in the Bluebonnet Bowl; his notable players at Stanford included quarterbacks Guy Benjamin and Steve Dils, wide receivers James Lofton and Ken Margerum, and running back Darrin Nelson. Walsh was the Pac-8 Coach of the Year in 1977.
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In 1979, Walsh was hired as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The long-suffering 49ers went 2-14 in 1978, the season before Walsh's arrival and repeated the same dismal record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation—but earlier in 1979, Walsh drafted quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame in the third round.
Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10. San Francisco won its first championship in 1 -
The 1981 season saw Walsh lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl championship; the team rose from the cellar to the top of the NFL in just two seasons.
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After leaving the coaching ranks immediately following his team's victory in Super Bowl XXIII, Walsh went to work as a broadcaster for NBC (teaming with Dick Enberg to form the lead broadcasting team while replacing Merlin Olsen in the booth). Walsh returned to Stanford in 1992 to once again serve as head coach for the school, leading the Cardinal to a 10-3 record and a Pacific-10 Conference co-championship.
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Walsh would also return to the 49ers, serving as Vice President and General Manager from 1999 to 2001 and was a special consultant to the team for three years afterwards.
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In 2005, after then-athletic director Ted Leland stepped down to take a position at the University of the Pacific, Walsh was named interim athletic director. He also acted as a consultant for his alma mater San Jose State University in their search for an Athletic Director and Head Football Coach in 2005.
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After consecutive losing seasons, Walsh left Stanford in 1994 and retired from coaching.
