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Finding the Winning Edge
When those who chronicle the history of the game list the individuals who had the greatest impact on the National Football League, Bill Walsh will clearly be among the names of Halas, Lombardi, Brown, Landry, Noll and Shula. But when you consider who has impacted the game most in terms of those who sought to copy, emulate, reproduce or extend a definable system, style or structure, Bill Walsh stands alone. In Finding the Winning Edge, the coach of three Super Bowl Championships illustrates and outlines the basic organizational, coaching and system philosophies that he has used throughout his career.
550 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1997
46 people are currently reading
1503 people want to read
About the author
Bill Walsh
16 books35 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
William Ernest Walsh was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers...
(source: Wikipedia)
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
William Ernest Walsh was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers...
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 20, 2014
I suggest reading this book, only if you plan on becoming a head coach of a football organization. It went into great specific details, however, not being in the industry, or being a coach, it made me not want to read any further. I find Bill Walsh an incredibly intelligent man and football coach after reading this. I would have most likely enjoyed it more, if I had lived in his era, and experienced the way his team played. I'm a miserable Jet fan and as a result, have no NY Jet coaches writing material like this because they all stink. No one would buy it either.
December 15, 2013
Read it, then put it down. Come back next off season and read it again. Get highlighters. Mark it up. Use sticky notes. For every coach, there is meat in this 7 course meal.
February 2, 2015
Boring. It's literally an instruction manual on how to be a head coach of a football team. I tried to read it because it's supposedly rare and influential.
July 1, 2019
4.5 stars
This is an encyclopedia on how to build and entire major sports organization. This is a treatise on how to build and sustain a professional at a level of consistent excellence. There are sections that are football specific; however, one can replace these with any sport, military unit, or other organization. The fact that Bill uses appropriately selected quotes from military, political, and business leaders demonstrates the value [of his ideas] to organization leadership and management in a variety of venues. To the extent that the qualities, characteristics, and tips given can be transferred from sports into real life, Bill Walsh does an outstanding job in articulating these. In this manner Walsh emulates other great coaches, particularly Vince Lombardi and John Wooden. Bill covers leading, teaching, coaching, counseling, mentoring of players; and the importance of knowledge, skills, aptitude, attitude, and learning. One of the most important ideas Bill conveys about leaders is the concept of functional intelligence and how much more important this is than pure intelligence (or the smartest guy in the room folly). He is also particular to point out the primary objective of various meetings and practices. He admonishes not to emphasize every point every time because that merely emphasizes nothing. I found this book enjoyable to read because I am a big fan of Bill Walsh and the 49er teams he led, as well as having a memory for the players and coaches he mentions. This might be an obstacle for post modern readers who are focused solely on today’s players many of whom they forget on the morrow. That would be a mistake because this book is most useful for anyone looking to build success and to sustain excellence in whatever organization they may find themselves leading. I would draw comparisons about achieving and sustaining organizational excellence mentioned here with what Senator Cotton describes of the Old Guard in Sacred Duty and Sir Alex Ferguson in Leadership.
This is an encyclopedia on how to build and entire major sports organization. This is a treatise on how to build and sustain a professional at a level of consistent excellence. There are sections that are football specific; however, one can replace these with any sport, military unit, or other organization. The fact that Bill uses appropriately selected quotes from military, political, and business leaders demonstrates the value [of his ideas] to organization leadership and management in a variety of venues. To the extent that the qualities, characteristics, and tips given can be transferred from sports into real life, Bill Walsh does an outstanding job in articulating these. In this manner Walsh emulates other great coaches, particularly Vince Lombardi and John Wooden. Bill covers leading, teaching, coaching, counseling, mentoring of players; and the importance of knowledge, skills, aptitude, attitude, and learning. One of the most important ideas Bill conveys about leaders is the concept of functional intelligence and how much more important this is than pure intelligence (or the smartest guy in the room folly). He is also particular to point out the primary objective of various meetings and practices. He admonishes not to emphasize every point every time because that merely emphasizes nothing. I found this book enjoyable to read because I am a big fan of Bill Walsh and the 49er teams he led, as well as having a memory for the players and coaches he mentions. This might be an obstacle for post modern readers who are focused solely on today’s players many of whom they forget on the morrow. That would be a mistake because this book is most useful for anyone looking to build success and to sustain excellence in whatever organization they may find themselves leading. I would draw comparisons about achieving and sustaining organizational excellence mentioned here with what Senator Cotton describes of the Old Guard in Sacred Duty and Sir Alex Ferguson in Leadership.
August 31, 2025
Legend has it that this is the most epic read ever, unmissable insights from a leadership and football genius. Took me a bit to get my hands on a copy of this book given the limited run and cult status, and my expectations were high. Whoa was I disappointed. Most interesting bits were some of the personal history of Coach Walsh. The leadership aspects were quite shallow and the most disappointing, and not particularly inspiring to me. The detailed football operations bit were a bit of an anomaly, and more interesting as an oddity and snapshot of theories of how to operate in football in that era. Reminded me a bit of Bill Russell's memoir which was similarly all over the place.
January 4, 2026
To be clear, I’m a fan of both the 49ers and Bill Walsh, which is why my rating is so high. If you share those interests and care about the history of the 49ers, this book is essential reading. If you don’t, it still has value for anyone interested in leadership or running an organization. That said, the book is extremely detailed. If your interest in the 49ers or Bill Walsh is more casual, I’d recommend The Score Takes Care of Itself instead, which covers many of the same ideas in a much more concise and accessible way.
January 4, 2026
While the book is blend of autobiography, and organizational management. I stepped away from coaching over 15 years ago and into higher education leadership. So many parallel lessons to be extracted from this book on empowering your team, and practicing for situational leadership, and framing organizational culture.
September 3, 2024
By far the best management book. You will find here deep but pragmatic principles for man management and team organization, with many direct experiences to paint the reality of the process. Remarkable work.
Contains really technical parts on US football, but you can skip if it is not your field.
Contains really technical parts on US football, but you can skip if it is not your field.
March 7, 2018
This is a must for anyone coaching or want to become a coach!
April 6, 2025
One of the most important sports books ever written. Documents everything involved in running a high performing institution
December 20, 2016
The bible for coaching football.
October 3, 2009
I'm no football coach, but if I were, I might have been more responsive to the incredible detail of how to be an administrator of a football team.
December 17, 2010
The BIBLE of football coaching books If you are looking for an extremely detailed book on how to build a football organization, this is it. LOVED this book. The insiders perspective is amazing.
April 13, 2013
Totally worth the $1,000.99 market price. Snigger.
September 9, 2016
Found it at a thrift shop for 50cents, absolutely amazing knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews