Remembering Bill Walsh, from a Bengals perspective, isn't terribly hard. While I was yet to be born when Walsh was in Cincinnati, his impression was never truly forgotten. For the pride that he began in Cincinnati, he brought the dread as the head coach of the team that beat the Bengals in their only two Super Bowl appearances.
For eight seasons, Bill Walsh learned under head coach Paul Brown becoming an offensive genius. Between 1968-1975, the Bengals didn't rank worst than 13th in points scored. What would become the West Coast offense, started taking shape in Cincinnati. John Clayton remembered Walsh while in Cincinnati saying after games both Kenny Anderson and Walsh would be mentally exhausted. Anderson credits most, if not all, of his development to Walsh.
Later, in a December 22, 2006 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Walsh said that Brown worked against Walsh's candidacy to succeed him and other opportunities down the road.
Bill Walsh will always be remembered for the West Coast offense and the dynasty he built in San Francisco. But there's a little bit of pride to say that Walsh was a Bengals coach before then. Ah, the possibilities if he stayed in Cincinnati and became the successor of Paul Brown.
For some of you veteran fans that were fans when Walsh was in Cincinnati, what do you remember?
Bill Walsh: 1931 - 2007 [Niners Nation]
'The Genius' dies at 75 [DDN]
Bengaldom salutes Walsh [Bengals.com]
Walsh had major impact on past Bengals' success [DDN]
Brown: Walsh was 'top coach' [Curnutte's Blog]
Anderson: I owe a lot to Walsh [Curnutte's Blog]