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1981 championship

The 1981 season saw Walsh lead the 49ers to a championship and marked the team's rise from the bottom of the NFL. Important in that season were two wins each over the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. The Rams had dominated the series with the 49ers up to that point in time, and the 49ers' two wins over the Rams in 1981 marked the beginning of a long run of dominance for the 49ers in the series that lasted until the late 1990s.

In 1981, the 49ers blew out the Cowboys in the regular season. On Monday Night Football that week, the 49ers' win was not included in the halftime highlights. Walsh felt that this was because the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Rams the next week in a rare Sunday night game and that showing the highlights of the 49ers' win would potentially hurt the game's ratings. Walsh used this as a motivating factor for his team.

The 49ers faced the Cowboys again that same season in the NFC title game. The game was very close, and in the fourth quarter Walsh called a series of running plays as the 49ers marched down the field against the Cowboys defense, which had been expecting the 49ers to mainly pass. The 49ers came from behind to win the game on Dwight Clark's memorable TD reception (The Catch), propelling Walsh to his first Super Bowl. Walsh and the 49ers defeated Cincinnati in the Super Bowl, which was played in Pontiac, Michigan. Walsh would later write that the 49ers' two wins over the Rams showed a shift of power in their division, while the wins over the Cowboys showed a shift of power in the conference.

Prominent assistant coaches

Many of his assistant coaches went on to be head coaches, including George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Ray Rhodes, and Dennis Green. These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have utilized Walsh's West Coast system. Walsh was viewed as a strong advocate for African-American head coaches in the NFL and NCAA.^[Along with Rhodes and Green, Tyrone Willingham became the head coach at Stanford, then later Notre Dame and Washington. One of Mike Shanahan's assistants, Karl Dorrell has gone on to be the head coach at UCLA. Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.

Bill Walsh coaching tree

Several former and current NFL head coaches trace their lineage back to Bill Walsh on his coaching tree:

Len Pasquarelli article on ESPN.com

Later career

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). 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 an upset victory over Penn State in the Blockbuster Bowl on January 1, 1993. After consecutive losing seasons, Walsh left Stanford in 1994 and retired from coaching.

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. In 2004, Walsh was appointed as special assistant to the athletic director at Stanford. 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.

Bill Walsh was also the author of two books, a motivational speaker, and taught classes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Walsh appeared in a recent Coors Light commercial. He plays the role of a coach who answers questions about football. Coors Light-drinking fans ask him questions, saying things such as "We have a 12 pack and four cans" to which Walsh replies "Well, 12 and 4 is pretty good.." This was actually taking old footage of Walsh's press conferences and editing footage of fans asking questions, and the 12 and 4 comment was probably referring to an opponent's record before a playoff game.

Illness and death

Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004. In November 2006, he confirmed that he was undergoing treatment for the illness. "News about me has been circulating," he said. "It's been getting back to me. The media has been aware of the possibility of this and has refrained from writing.

"There are too many people following the progress of this. I felt it was appropriate to confirm what's happening. I hope now that I have done that, the media will refrain from phoning me. I'm pragmatically doing everything my physicians recommend and I'm working my way through it," Walsh said. In early 2007 Walsh's former broadcasting partner, Dick Enberg, reported that Walsh had told him the cancer was in remission.

Bill Walsh died of leukemia at 10:45 am on July 30, 2007 at his home in Woodside, California.