Understanding NFL Football: The West Coast Offense

With the recent passing of coaching legend Bill Walsh, the NFL and the football community at large lost one of its most venerated and cherished members. A large portion of the current coaches in the game are direct or indirect disciples of the Bill Walsh coaching tree. Among his many accomplishments were taking a lead in the hiring of minority coaches, winning multiple Super Bowls and mentoring future Hall of Fame inductees Joe Montana, Steve Young and Jerry Rice. Perhaps his single greatest innovation though is the creation of what came to be known as the West Coast Offense, the system in which those great players thrived.

The term West Coast Offense originally referred to the style that Sid Gillman and Don Coryell started using as far back as the 1960s. The NFL teams using the system were the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders, and therefore the term West Coast was deemed appropriate. Since that time, that style of offensive attack has become known as the "Air Coryell" offense and the West Coast Offense now refers soley to Bill Walsh's principles and the style he implemented with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.

Basic football knowledge leads one to believe that the "correct" offensive philosophy is first to establish a strong running game. This will control the clock and the tempo of the game and set a physical tone while wearing down the defensive players. Additionally, the defense will need to adjust to stop the running game, bringing more players closer to the line of scrimmage and center of the field. As that change occurs, the offensive team will pass the ball in the now open, deep areas of the field. Overall, at least 50-60% of the offensive calls will be some form of a running play. The West Coast offense is essence the exact opposite of this classic style of play.