I was lucky enough to be living in San Francisco and the Bay Area when Eddie DeBartolo hired Bill Walsh away from Stanford to run the 49ers. The magic really started when Walsh put a short, skinny, kid with a weak arm in as his quarterback to run his patented “West Coast Offenseâ€Â. That offense worked if the quarterback could see the field and read his receivers. Joe Montana knew where ALL his receivers were and was the very best at reading progressions and dumping off to running backs and tight ends. The offense was just awesome and it was truly fun to watch them play in the 80s and 90s.
The 49er defense in that time was also something special with George Seifert running it and Ronnie Lott and Hacksaw Reynolds smashing people. Old Candlestick Park could be electric and you just knew the 9ers would pull out a win somehow.
Eventually Walsh retired and Seifert took over as coach and even Joe Montana got old and Steve Young took over as quarterback for a final fling. I was there for all 5 of the Superbowl parades and maybe the saddest day down at the foot of Market Street when Joe Montana said goodbye to the city. I lost interest in the pro game after that and switched to Cal and Stanford because tickets were easy to come by.
Of course, I followed Bama as closely as possible in those days as well – even subscribed to the Sunday edition of the Birmingham News, which usually arrived 2 weeks late and in tatters – but being able to watch them on the left coast was rare until 1998. Like me, most of you have seen all the games since and through the miracle of Al Gore inventing the internet, world peace, and global warming, have been able to establish the BamaNation as a truly world wide phenomenon.
Since Coach Bryant retired it seems that the Crimson Tide’s offense has been mediocre to offensive (pardon me). I grew up with Joe Willie and the Snake and then was gone when the wishbone was the rage, but it sure is fun when the offense is clicking.
Coach Saban has brought a breath of fresh air to a program that had grown stale and nowhere is that more apparent than in the offense. Coach McElwain has done wonders and the players seem to be enjoying themselves again. Winning does that.
I wrote all this just to say that after watching the first 3 games and watching Greg McElroy operate and read the field it sure looked familiar in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of differences in the West Coast offense and what we’re running but the basics are there with new wrinkles and it sure is fun to watch.
We’ve got ourselves a new offense: The Gulf Coast Offense – The Crimson Tsunami – The Crimson Riptide!
The 49er defense in that time was also something special with George Seifert running it and Ronnie Lott and Hacksaw Reynolds smashing people. Old Candlestick Park could be electric and you just knew the 9ers would pull out a win somehow.
Eventually Walsh retired and Seifert took over as coach and even Joe Montana got old and Steve Young took over as quarterback for a final fling. I was there for all 5 of the Superbowl parades and maybe the saddest day down at the foot of Market Street when Joe Montana said goodbye to the city. I lost interest in the pro game after that and switched to Cal and Stanford because tickets were easy to come by.
Of course, I followed Bama as closely as possible in those days as well – even subscribed to the Sunday edition of the Birmingham News, which usually arrived 2 weeks late and in tatters – but being able to watch them on the left coast was rare until 1998. Like me, most of you have seen all the games since and through the miracle of Al Gore inventing the internet, world peace, and global warming, have been able to establish the BamaNation as a truly world wide phenomenon.
Since Coach Bryant retired it seems that the Crimson Tide’s offense has been mediocre to offensive (pardon me). I grew up with Joe Willie and the Snake and then was gone when the wishbone was the rage, but it sure is fun when the offense is clicking.
Coach Saban has brought a breath of fresh air to a program that had grown stale and nowhere is that more apparent than in the offense. Coach McElwain has done wonders and the players seem to be enjoying themselves again. Winning does that.
I wrote all this just to say that after watching the first 3 games and watching Greg McElroy operate and read the field it sure looked familiar in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of differences in the West Coast offense and what we’re running but the basics are there with new wrinkles and it sure is fun to watch.
We’ve got ourselves a new offense: The Gulf Coast Offense – The Crimson Tsunami – The Crimson Riptide!
