Posted on: Saturday, April 2, 2005

Prep coaches learn from a legend

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Just before Bill Walsh's first game as a head football coach, he was reminded the players needed uniforms, so he instructed his Washington (Fremont, Calif.) High School team to "go and grab a jersey from the bin."

The next week, he told them the same thing, not paying attention to the numbers.

"Parents in the stands were saying, 'Look, honey! Johnny's playing quarterback this week!' " Walsh said. "That's how much I knew about football."

Walsh eventually learned enough to win four Super Bowls, and Thursday evening he shared some of his vast knowledge with more than 100 Hawai'i high school coaches at Saint Louis Alumni Clubhouse. The 90-minute appearance was arranged by Walsh's longtime friend, former Chaminade University athletic director Mike Vasconcellos, and sponsored by the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association.

Walsh is a coveted motivational speaker nationally, sometimes addressing Fortune 500 companies and commanding honorariums of $25,000 or more. Thursday's "clinic" was free of charge and all Hawai'i high school football coaches were invited.

"For him to come and speak to us for free is unheard of," said Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez, who has paid his own way to attend Mainland clinics featuring Walsh. "The guy is on a different level; he's legendary. Everything he has to say, you try to hang on to it."

Leilehua's Nolan Tokuda, The Advertiser's reigning State Coach of the Year, filled his composition book with eight pages of notes while listening to Walsh.

"He's so energetic and is such a great speaker, it makes you want to go out and play for him right now," Tokuda said. "The things he said can apply to any program. You can tell he coached in a workable climate, and the way he speaks, it's like we all knew him for a long time. Hearing his words of wisdom, who wouldn't want to play for him?"

Walsh spoke of his general football philosophy ("It's a game of vision and explosion — beating the other team to the punch," he said), and also gave tips on how to coach almost every position: quarterback, offensive and defensive line, linebackers, secondary. His main overall message stressed fundamentals and preparation.

"You have to isolate the skills a guy needs to have at his position and find a way to develop those skills on the practice field," Walsh said. "Until the last couple months of his career, Joe Montana still worked on his (drop) steps and fundamentals, and until last year I still worked with Jerry Rice on fundamentals every offseason. There isn't any limit to that."

As for preparation, Walsh suggested scripting "every play for every practice" leading up to the first game of the season.

"Our West Coast Offense wasn't about the plays — it was the planning," Walsh said. "We handled situations and executed better because we practiced it."

Although some of Walsh's tips, like "cut-blocking," were not exactly relevant to the high school game, most of them were.

"The things he said apply to everyday life," Tokuda said. "He's helping us become better coaches for the kids."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.