The NFL has lost one of it's most influential minds in the history of the game. Bill Walsh was a master of the X and O's and his vision was well ahead of the time. He's obviously best known as the architect of the West Coast offense that essentially all 32 NFL teams use in some form.

San Francisco Chronicle has a thorough rundown of his history with the 49ers and his influence on the game.

It's rather amazing when you tally all of the coaching who came from the Bill Walsh coaching tree. Here's a glimpse from his wikipedia entry:



That's about half of the NFL right now. Just about everyone else stems from Parcells or Schottenheimer.

I've read a couple books that featured Walsh a great deal (Blind Side is a good one) and always respected how much he loved the game of football, but also understood where it fit in with the rest of the world. Sad day for the football.