Walsh began his pro coaching career in 1966 as an assistant with the American Football League's Oakland Raiders. As a Raider assistant, Walsh was groomed in the vertical passing offense of Sid Gillman, favored by Al Davis. Walsh would later modify his own offensive philosophy to favor a predominantly horizontal passing approach.

He then moved to the AFL expansion Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, serving under Paul Brown for seven seasons as one of the architects of the team's offense, built around quarterback Ken Anderson and wide receiver Isaac Curtis.

When Brown retired as head coach following the 1975 season and appointed Bill "Tiger" Johnson as his successor, Walsh resigned and served as an assistant coach for Tommy Prothro with the San Diego Chargers in 1976. In a 2006 interview[1] , Walsh claimed that during his tenure with the Bengals, Brown "worked against my candidacy" to be a head coach anywhere in the league. "All the way through I had opportunities, and I never knew about them," Walsh said. "And then when I left him, he called whoever he thought was necessary to keep me out of the NFL."

Walsh then moved for the first of two tenures as head football coach at Stanford, from 1977 to 1978. Walsh's 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. Walsh's 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.

In 1979, Walsh was appointed head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. The long-suffering 49ers went 2-14 before Walsh's arrival. They repeated the record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation -- but earlier in 1979, the 49ers drafted quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame.

Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10 -- and improbably, San Francisco won its first championship in 1981, just two years after winning two games.

Under Walsh the 49ers won Super Bowl championships in 1981, 1984 and 1988. Walsh served as 49ers head coach for ten years, and during his tenure he and his coaching staff perfected the style of play known popularly as the West Coast offense.

He was responsible for drafting Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, and Jerry Rice. Walsh's successes with the 49ers were rewarded when he was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1993.