Editing Bill Walsh (section)

===Coaching tree===
====Upline====
Walsh's upline [[coaching tree]] included working as assistant for [[American Football League]] great and Hall of Fame head coach [[Al Davis]] and [[NFL]] legend and Hall of Famer [[Paul Brown]], and, through Davis, AFL great and Hall of Fame head coach [[Sid Gillman]] of the then AFL [[San Diego Chargers|Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers]].

====Downline====
[[File:Bill Walsh coaching tree 2015 update.svg|center|750px]] 
Tree updated through December 9, 2015.<ref>{{cite news |author=Beaton, Andrew and Camden Hu |title=The NFL Coaching Tree |url=http://graphics.wsj.com/nfl-coaches/ |website=WSJ.com |date=December 9, 2015 |access-date=December 26, 2020}}</ref>

Many Walsh assistants went on to become head coaches,.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://static.espn.go.com/nfl/s/westcoast/history.html | title=An offense by any other name ... | first=Len | last=Pasquarelli | author-link=Len Pasquarelli | date=October 17, 2002 | work=ESPN.com | access-date=March 12, 2009}}</ref> including [[George Seifert]], [[Mike Holmgren]], [[Ray Rhodes]], and [[Dennis Green]]. Seifert succeeded Walsh as 49ers head coach, and guided San Francisco to victories in [[Super Bowl XXIV]] and [[Super Bowl XXIX]]. Holmgren won a [[Super Bowl XXXI|Super Bowl]] with the [[Green Bay Packers]], and made 3 Super Bowl appearances as a head coach: 2 with the Packers, and another with the [[Seattle Seahawks]]. These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have used Walsh's West Coast system, such as former [[Denver Broncos]] head coach [[Mike Shanahan]] and former [[Houston Texans]] head coach [[Gary Kubiak]]. Mike Shanahan was an offensive coordinator under [[George Seifert]] and went on to win [[Super Bowl XXXII]] and [[Super Bowl XXXIII]] during his time as head coach of the [[Denver Broncos]]. Kubiak was first a [[quarterback]] coach with the 49ers, and then [[offensive coordinator]] for Shanahan with the Broncos. In 2015, he became the Broncos' head coach and led Denver to victory in [[Super Bowl 50]]. [[Dennis Green]] trained [[Tony Dungy]], who won a [[Super Bowl XLI|Super Bowl]] with the [[Indianapolis Colts]], and [[Brian Billick]] with his brother-in law and linebackers coach [[Mike Smith (American football coach)|Mike Smith]]. Billick won a [[Super Bowl XXXV|Super Bowl]] as head coach of the [[Baltimore Ravens]].

Mike Holmgren trained many of his assistants to become head coaches, including [[Jon Gruden]] and [[Andy Reid]]. Gruden won a [[Super Bowl XXXVII|Super Bowl]] with the [[Tampa Bay Buccaneers]]. Reid served as head coach of the [[Philadelphia Eagles]] from 1999 to 2012, and guided the Eagles to multiple winning seasons and numerous playoff appearances, including 1 Super Bowl appearance. Ever since 2013, Reid has served as head coach of the [[Kansas City Chiefs]]. He was finally able to win a Super Bowl, when his Chiefs defeated the [[San Francisco 49ers]] in [[Super Bowl LIV]], and two consecutive when his Chiefs defeated the Eagles in [[Super Bowl LVII]] and the [[San Francisco 49ers]] in [[Super Bowl LVIII]]. In addition to this, [[Marc Trestman]], former head coach of the [[Chicago Bears]], served as offensive coordinator under Seifert in the 90's. Gruden himself would train [[Mike Tomlin]], who led the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] to their [[Super Bowl XLIII|sixth Super Bowl championship]], and [[Jim Harbaugh]], whose 49ers would face his brother, [[John Harbaugh]], whom Reid himself trained, and the [[Baltimore Ravens]] at [[Super Bowl XLVII]], which marked the Ravens' second World Championship.

Bill Walsh was viewed as a strong advocate for African-American head coaches in the NFL and NCAA.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/dickey_011402.asp | title=It's past time | author=Glenn Dickey | publisher=ProFootballWeekly.com | date=January 14, 2002 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121164442/http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives2001/features_2001/dickey_011402.asp | archive-date=November 21, 2006 }}</ref> Thus, the impact of Walsh also changed the NFL into an equal opportunity for African-American coaches. Along with [[Ray Rhodes]] and [[Dennis Green]], [[Tyrone Willingham]] became the head coach at Stanford, then later [[University of Notre Dame|Notre Dame]] and Washington. One of [[Mike Shanahan]]'s assistants, [[Karl Dorrell]], went on to be the head coach at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]]. Walsh directly helped propel Dennis Green into the NFL head coaching ranks by offering to take on the head coaching job at Stanford.