What's the argument for going to the West Coast offense?

The idea of a west coast offense was airing it out. SF did this with Brodie, Title and Albert. Stanford was an airshow before Walsh, and Coryell did it in SD with long ball. Walsh did it with the short game. It was said at the time that the offense was "west coast" because as soon as they got into cold weather they would fail. The short game proved more effective in cold weather and the 9ers disproved the theory by winning in very cold games, including a Superbowl.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
The idea of a west coast offense was airing it out. SF did this with Brodie, Title and Albert. Stanford was an airshow before Walsh, and Coryell did it in SD with long ball. Walsh did it with the short game. It was said at the time that the offense was "west coast" because as soon as they got into cold weather they would fail. The short game proved more effective in cold weather and the 9ers disproved the theory by winning in very cold games, including a Superbowl.

I'm not sure if it was your intention, but your post seems to infer that Walsh adapted the Air Coryell offense into a short passing game??

That would be a little blending of history. Yes, the Air Coryell offense was the original "West Coast" offense in San Diego -- and I think Oakland quickly adopted it, then SF (?). I don't know the Stanford history. But the reference to the Air Coryell system as the West Coast offense was not as universally applied or understood as the WCO system of Bill Walsh became known after the 49ers became a dominant team.

As a matter of fact, the Air Coryell "west coast offense" was almost referred to derisively, because it didn't do well in cold weather.

Although the passing game was moving to the fore in football, and undoubtedly the Air Coryell passing game was a big boost to that, the Walsh passing game was clearly developed out of the Paul Brown offenses. Walsh adapted, really revolutionized, that offense by emphasizing the short passing game to get ball handlers open in space -- as Walsh himself put it -- an extension of the running game.

To create the open space required passing routes that worked well in combination - and thus synchronized. I believe from this initial concept, it was Walsh's genius that blossomed the idea into a full-blown offensive system remade on the concepts of short passing and synchronization.

But lets not forget, all the short passing was not an end in itself, the short passing opened up the run, and opened up the shots down the field. It is a vertically and horizontally integrated attack -- so multi-dimensional it revolutionized the game.

I think what I've read so far indicates Walsh learned the Davis/Gillman system in the late 60s with the Raiders. Walsh took a bulk of it with him to Cincinnati, and further refined the system there. More important was Paul Brown's influence, and allowance he gave Walsh contributed greatly. After his time in Cincy, Walsh had a stop in San Diego, where he met Bobb McKittrick at the same time. Coryell was an admirer of Gillman's, and simplified its terminology for the college game.

Originally posted by HearstFan:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:
The idea of a west coast offense was airing it out. SF did this with Brodie, Title and Albert. Stanford was an airshow before Walsh, and Coryell did it in SD with long ball. Walsh did it with the short game. It was said at the time that the offense was "west coast" because as soon as they got into cold weather they would fail. The short game proved more effective in cold weather and the 9ers disproved the theory by winning in very cold games, including a Superbowl.

I'm not sure if it was your intention, but your post seems to infer that Walsh adapted the Air Coryell offense into a short passing game??

That would be a little blending of history. Yes, the Air Coryell offense was the original "West Coast" offense in San Diego -- and I think Oakland quickly adopted it, then SF (?). I don't know the Stanford history. But the reference to the Air Coryell system as the West Coast offense was not as universally applied or understood as the WCO system of Bill Walsh became known after the 49ers became a dominant team.

As a matter of fact, the Air Coryell "west coast offense" was almost referred to derisively, because it didn't do well in cold weather.

Although the passing game was moving to the fore in football, and undoubtedly the Air Coryell passing game was a big boost to that, the Walsh passing game was clearly developed out of the Paul Brown offenses. Walsh adapted, really revolutionized, that offense by emphasizing the short passing game to get ball handlers open in space -- as Walsh himself put it -- an extension of the running game.

To create the open space required passing routes that worked well in combination - and thus synchronized. I believe from this initial concept, it was Walsh's genius that blossomed the idea into a full-blown offensive system remade on the concepts of short passing and synchronization.

But lets not forget, all the short passing was not an end in itself, the short passing opened up the run, and opened up the shots down the field. It is a vertically and horizontally integrated attack -- so multi-dimensional it revolutionized the game.

No, my intent was not to compare Walsh and Coryell at all, but to say the passing game was considered a west coast phenomena with all those California QBs coming out of high schools. Walsh was a student of the game, going back to his college days. His offense was a culmination of years of watching the best and creating his own style/system. One thing that really isn't mentioned enough is his compulsion about details. Practice was on time, assistant coaches had to know exactly what they would do at practice down to the second and players were taught (TAUGHT) every phase of their position by good coaches. Practices were fast paced and never overly long. The stress was on intensity and getting it right, not wearing everyone down and beating them up (Singletary type drills were not necessary and too prone to injury). This programmed the players for game situations. Walsh was mocked with the title of genius by jealous coaches but he truly was a great mind when it came to football.

This said, success in whatever system the 9ers use next will depend on the mind running it and it is unlikely they will luck out and find another Walsh.

[ Edited by dtg_9er on Jan 3, 2011 at 13:08:27 ]