This was Their Secret to Success

and even more success

6 min read

1 hour ago

On 9th January 1979, Bill Walsh took over as the manager and head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. While it would have been the perfect moment for celebration, it wasn’t.

Bill had inherited a team that was considered the “worst team of 1978” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

They were 34th overall and recorded 2–14 in their previous season (2 wins and 14 losses).

Walsh was up to the challenge to transform the team.

However, when we look closely, we see that his focus wasn’t on winning more games.

Instinctively, we’d expect the new coach to push the team to work harder and win more games to save face.

Instead, Bill had another strategy. He called it the “standard of performance” and involved requiring players to demonstrate professionalism in small details.

First, the players had to be neat. They had to tuck in their shirts when they played. The players could not sit down during practice, even when they were waiting for a rep.

The receptionists also had to answer phones in a specific manner and all fights were prohibited.

He [Bill] wanted people in his new organization who did it his way, and believe me, he had a crystal clear…