West Coast Offense

The West Coast Offense is a football strategy (in American football) based on Paul Brown's Cleveland and Cincinatti offensive schemes and later associated primarily with the great former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh.

Related Topics:
Football strategy - American football - San Francisco 49ers - Coach - Bill Walsh

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The birth of the modern West Coast Offense took place on the west coast of California. After a couple of seasons working under Jon Rauch with the Oakland Raiders and a stint coaching the San Jose Apaches of the Continental Football League, Walsh was hired by Paul Brown in 1968 to coach receivers for the new Cincinnati Bengals, an expansion franchise. In 1970, the Bengals' strong-armed quarterback, Greg Cook, suffered a career-ending shoulder injury. Walsh, who was also the team's de facto offensive coordinator, was forced to devise up a system to maximize the strengths of Cook's replacement, Virgil Carter, who was smaller and more mobile than Cook but had difficulty throwing the deep ball.

Related Topics:
Continental Football League - 1968 - Cincinnati Bengals

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Contrary to most other offenses of the time, where running the ball first was a priority, Walsh decided to use more quick, timed throws and fewer, yet well-placed runs in order to keep the ball in his offense's hands and the defense off the field. While it was a ball-control philosophy, it was different from the usual run-first ways of dominating the ball. Walsh put a lot of stock in practicing for different situations, and his teams became very proficient at excelling in almost every possible offensive situation.

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More emphasis was put on YAC yards, or "yards after the catch." Receivers caught short passes and were expected to make bigger plays out of them. Walsh streamlined this offense, and eventually took it to Stanford with him in 1977. Two years later, he was named head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and used his West Coast Offense to win 3 Super Bowls in the 1980s. When Walsh retired in 1989, George Seifert took over and the 49ers won the Super Bowl again the following year. The 49ers have won 5 Super Bowls in total running the West Coast Offense.

Related Topics:
Stanford - San Francisco 49ers - Super Bowls - George Seifert

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