I never forgot Bill Walsh's take on life in the NFL

For 10 seasons, Bill Walsh succeeded at the tough task of winning and keeping 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. happy. AP

Remembering Bill Walsh (1931-2007) • OBIT: Hall of Famer Bill Walsh dies at 75 • SILVER: Niners' Walsh was truly a genius • Q&A: SI with Walsh in March 2007 • KING: Walsh's ways transformed NFL • DR. Z: Pioneer Walsh changed the game • DR. Z: Hard-driving Walsh burned to win • REACT: Your thoughts on Bill Walsh • GALLERY: Remembering Walsh's career

Bill Walsh and I were having dinner one night, and some coach had just been fired. I forget who it was. Walsh took a deep breath and, almost in a stream of consciousness, issued a description of life in the NFL that has stayed with me for many years. I wrote it down, as accurately as I could. I used it in my book, The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football:

"At the top of the club you've got the owner. He doesn't have the knowledge he should have. He has a knowledge of business. He made it quickly. He wants things to be done quickly, without quite knowing how.

"In the middle somewhere is the GM. Nobody knows why he's gotten to that position. He's firmly within the owner's comfort zone. He demands quite a salary for doing very little.

"Then there's the personnel man, often a frustrated player or coach. He justifies his position by sending the scouts out.

"Then there's the coach. He's in there with his assistants at midnight, looking over the film again and again, trying to find out what's wrong. And while he's in there, the owner and the GM and the personnel man are having dinner, and over martinis they're discussing the team. The GM says, 'Look, we've got the best facilities and administration and exhibition schedule. We've set up every possibility to do a job.' The personnel man says, 'Well, we've certainly got the players. We had a great draft. I know because I read it in the papers.'

"They put their heads together. 'What do we do?' So they get a new coach, obviously in the GM's comfort zone but not too strong a threat. The personnel man's going to side with the GM on anything. He knows where he got his job. So the cycle starts over again.

"Every seven or eight years a GM is spat out. And the situation continues to exist. Why? TV, the hype, NFL Films, NFL Properties, sell more T-shirts. Well, it should get the hype. It's a great sport. But it's sure tough on coaches."