Sublime

In this book we will examine both what Bill coached—what were the things he told people to do—and how he coached—what was his approach.

In his book Building a Champion, Bill Walsh wrote: The stylish, graceful, easy-going, affable, “players’ coach” will get you up to 80 percent of the job done. The final 20 percent is attributable to making tough decisions, demanding a high standard of performance, meeting expectations, paying attention to details, and “grabbing and shaking” when

The only way to do it is to be so thorough in your work beforehand as to make him totally confident of himself and those around him.” I adopted that attitude in my own head coaching at Stanford and San Francisco.

To put it another way: Conventional wisdom often produces conventional results. Conventional thinking didn’t produce Jerry Rice.

I’ve observed that if individuals who prevail in a highly competitive environment have any one thing in common besides success, it is failure—and their ability to overcome it. “Crash and burn” is part of it; so are recovery and reward. As you’re about to see, I experienced more than my share of both. In the process, I’ve discovered a few things

His devotion to quality became Oakland’s official team motto: “Commitment to Excellence.” And it wasn’t just a marketing slogan. Al Davis was deeply dedicated to achieving it; he didn’t just mouth the motto, he personified it.

During this early period I began hiring personnel with four characteristics I value most highly: talent, character, functional intelligence (beyond basic intelligence, the ability to think on your feet, quickly and spontaneously), and an eagerness to adopt my way of doing things, my philosophy. These included assistant coaches I was very familiar

During my years as head coach both at Stanford University and with the San Francisco 49ers, I believe it is safe to say there was no single individual in the organization—player, assistant coach, trainer, staff member, groundskeeper, or anyone else—who could accurately say he or she out-worked me.

Regardless of the size of an employee’s check or the requirements of his or her job, I made it clear that he or she was 100 percent a member of our team, whether he or she was a superstar or secretary, black or white, manager or maintenance man.