Walsh not a kingmaker January 23, 2003
Glenn Dickey
CONTRARY TO wide-spread speculation, Bill Walsh insists he had nothing to do with the firing of 49ers coach Steve Mariucci. "I didn't even hear about it until 20 minutes before the announcement," he said Wednesday. "I was probably more supportive of Steve than anybody else in the building. I talked to him and his assistants all the time during the season." During the season, Mariucci also said he talked frequently with Walsh and welcomed the chance to bounce ideas off him. (That doesn't mean they always agreed; Walsh feels strongly that all NFL coaches, including Mariucci, don't provide enough blocking for their quarterbacks when they send so many receivers out on pass patterns.) Much of the speculation about Walsh occurred because he talked to Jacksonville owner Wayne Weaver the week before the 49ers' final game, the lopsided loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but those talks came because of Walsh's previous involvement with Weaver. "When they were starting the franchise, he wanted me to be the CEO," said Walsh, "but I was at Stanford and didn't think I should leave." This month, when the Jaguars were looking for a coach, after firing Tom Coughlin, Walsh talked to Weaver and recommended that he hire Dennis Green, a good friend of Walsh's. "The last thing I knew, Dennis was going to take the job," said Walsh. "Then, I heard, he had turned it down. I have no idea what happened because I haven't talked to Dennis since then." Walsh did talk to Weaver about hiring Mariucci -- but after Mariucci had been fired. "Weaver was really excited about Mariucci, but Steve wasn't interested at all," Walsh said. Will Green now come to the 49ers? That's very unlikely -- precisely because the assumption would be that he was there because of Walsh, which would be a large obstacle for Green to overcome with the players. Green also likely would want more money and authority than team owner John York would be willing to give him. Walsh said he will not be involved in the hiring of a new coach. "I'm a consultant, and I know the definition of the word," he said. "I suggest possibilities, but in this case, Terry Donahue has his own agenda. He doesn't need my help." When he took over as general manager in January 1999, Walsh hired Donahue to prepare him for the role of general manager. Once Donahue stepped into the job, Walsh stepped back and has tried not to impinge on Donahue's authority. Meanwhile, he has projects outside the 49ers. He teaches a class at the Stanford business school and is involved in special projects for the NFL, including a seminar in April on minority coaches' hiring and one in July on NFL executives. He maintains an office at the 49ers' headquarters in Santa Clara and, when asked, he helps however he can. In recent months, for instance, he's been working with quarterback Cade McNown and is pleased by McNown's progress. "He was throwing so poorly before his surgery and right after," he said. "His throwing motion was really tight. I told him to relax just before he threw the ball, and he's been looking good. He's a very good athlete, with good speed and a strong enough arm." Walsh only proceeds at a coach's invitation, though, because he is sensitive to what it would mean if he offered unsolicited advice. "I can't go in to (offensive coordinator) Greg Knapp's office, for instance, and tell him what he should do," he said. "He'd think he had to do it my way or he'd be fired." Walsh will help on the draft, though Donahue will be in charge, and he knows there's a lot of work to be done there. "You can never have enough good cornerbacks," he said, "but they're hard to get. Each year, there are 15 receivers who come out and make it in the NFL and maybe three cornerbacks." Though he thought defensive end Andre Carter had a fine year, Walsh noted that the 49ers did not have a good pass rush, which means they need help there, too. "But we'll be drafting low again," he said. "It's hard to get the really good linemen drafting in that position, or cornerbacks, either. You have to settle for what you can get." He thinks the 49ers also need a fast receiver to complement Terrell Owens. "He doesn't have to be big, but he has to be fast off the line of scrimmage so, when teams blitz, Jeff Garcia can get the ball to him quickly and he can make a play," Walsh said. Five years ago, it would have been inconceivable that Walsh would have accepted a reduced role but, at 71, he's comfortable in it. He's willing to help wherever he's needed, but he's neither hiring nor firing coaches.
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