His fight to integrate NFL coaching form of ‘Genius’
The creation of an internship program for aspiring minority coaches part of legacy
Every football fan knows Bill Walsh as the winner of three shiny Super Bowls rings, the architect of a before-its-time scheme called the West Coast Offense and the worthy recipient of a bronze bust in Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For his unique football mind that changed the modern game he was called “The Genius.”
But how many people know about the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship program?
As the NFL continues to struggle with diversity — only three head coaches, two offensive coordinators and two general managers are Black — it has become clear that it wasn’t just the passing game where Walsh was ahead of his time.
He wanted an equal-opportunity workforce — the best workforce — even if other clubs did not.
“It was tough to get through to the league owners,” Walsh told this news organization in 2003, his final season as a 49ers consultant. “I wouldn’t say they were racist, but they felt no urgency at all.”
And that wasn’t going to keep Walsh from trying.
“Bill understood that in order for things to progress, someone like him needs to push it,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “It wasn’t going to come from the African American coaches to make changes. It was going to come from someone in his position to
make change and push change.”
As Walsh entered his final year as 49ers’ coach, he flew in a college assistant to interview for what would become a ground-breaking, minority-internship program.
Walsh looked at Mar v in Lewis’ resume as a college linebackers coach, saw parallels to his own humble origins, then opened the door to Lewis’ 1988 summer internship — and ultimately much more.
“I hadn’t thought much of the NFL until that opportunity,” Lewis recently recalled in a phone interview. “It was different. There was an attraction to that.”
Lewis, the Cincinnati Bengals coach from 2003-18, is just one example of Walsh’s foresight into diversity and inclusion.
“You look at times like now, that’s who we need,” added Shaw, who played under Walsh at Stanford from 1992-94. “We need the prominent caucasian coaches. We need the prominent, powerful owners and GMS to push the agenda.
“They’re in rooms and conversations that other people aren’t in that can make these changes. It’s not just the league office. It’s those amongst the coaches, GMS and owners in those groups that have to push change.”
Well before Lewis showed up as the first official Bill Walsh Minority Intern in 1988, the roots had been laid for coaches of color to develop with the 49ers. Walsh made it a place for them to learn NFL principles — and also start networking.
The genesis came from counsel Walsh had sought from Cal sociology professor Harry Edwards in 1983. ‘What were the key elements to building a sustainable winning culture?’ Walsh wondered. Edwards recommended many topics far from the world of Xs and Os. They included “Sport and race,” “Women and sport,” and “Athlete support programs.”
So began a collaboration that would ultimately help form the internship program bearing Walsh’s name.
Walsh was only a few years into his 49ers tenure when he began pecking at the glass ceiling. Black assistants Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes and Sherm Lewis all took prominent roles on his coaching staff.
“Bill was wise enough to realize that to make the game better, there needed to be inclusion, not just on the field of play, but with coaches,” said Herm Edwards, who interned with the Kansas City Chiefs before eventually rising to coach the New York Jets and Chiefs. “The program was really vital for a lot of us coming through wanting to be coaches.”
Edwards is now Arizona State’s head coach, and Marvin Lewis is his co-defensive coordinator. Both are grateful for Walsh’s assistance.
“Bill understood it. He kind of got it early,” Edwards added. “You look at the NFL and 70% of the league is men of color.”
Lewis recalls that 1988 internship fondly, as the team quickly rolled from minicamp to the start of training camp in
Rocklin to the exhibition opener in London.
“They wanted me to learn and get an opportunity to show what I could do,” he said.
Lewis coached the Cincinnati Bengals for 16 years before finally being let go in 2018. His teams made it to the playoffs seven times but were never able to advance.
With the number of Black coaches so low in 2020, some reasonably wonder whether Walsh’s impact is losing ground.
At least that can’t be said about where it all began. The 49ers boast arguably the NFL’S most diverse coaching staff under Kyle Shanahan, including minority coordinators in Richard Hightower and Robert Saleh. They also have Katie Sowers, a 2017 intern who became the NFL’S first openly gay coach and second full-time assistant.
“Afford each person the same respect, support and fair treatment you would expect if your roles were reversed. Deal with people individually, not as objects who are part of a herd — that’s the critical factor,” Walsh once said.
That quote is painted atop a wall above Levi’s Stadium’s employee entrance.
When Walsh died at age 75 on July 30, 2007, his former players — regardless of race — immediately extolled their appreciation for him.
“I came to San Francisco and I found another father in Bill,” Jerry Rice said then. “I never wanted to let him down.”
Added Ronnie Lott: “What really made Bill special is that he understood that the game was bigger than him. His genius was not centered around X’s and O’s. It was centered around his ability to create a platform that made the game inclusive to others.”