Bill Walsh, the former coach who led the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl championships, has resigned as the team's executive vice president to become an NBC football analyst.
"It should be a great challenge for Bill, something he seems to be in need of as the 1989 season quickly approaches," team owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. said in a statement released by the team Monday night."Bill and I have had lengthy discussions on the subject and he leaves the team with all of our blessings and my best wishes," DeBartolo said in the statement. "Simply put, NBC made him an excellent offer in an area of great interest to him."
Walsh couldn't be reached for comment.
Walsh, 57, who led the 49ers to NFL titles in the 1981, 1984 and 1988 seasons, quit as coach last January to move into the front office, leaving the coaching job to George Seifert.
In a statement from the network, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol and executive producer Terry O'Neil "confirmed that Bill Walsh has resigned as executive vice president of football operations for the San Francisco 49ers to join NBC sports as the No. 1 football analyst, working with play-by-play man Dick Enberg."
NBC wouldn't comment on the status of Merlin Olsen, who has been Enberg's partner on NFL telecasts. Olsen also is an actor and has indicated he might drop his announcing duties to pursue acting fulltime.
The network said further details of the Walsh hiring would be announced Saturday during a news conference at Los Angeles.
"He needs a challenge and misses coaching," Stephen Kay, Walsh's lawyer, said Monday in an interview with KGO-TV of San Francisco.
Walsh's relationship with DeBartolo began to sour in 1987 when Walsh was stripped of his title of team president after San Francisco lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight season.
"This is not General Motors, Ford and Chrysler," Walsh said at the time. "There are 28 competing teams, all mobilized and reasonably well-coached, so you should go to the Super Bowl about once every 14 years. Owners and others have to recognize the fact they can't just, by their own will, demand their team win. ... Just to be in the playoffs, you have survived a war of attrition."
Although DeBartolo never said Walsh's status as coach was in danger, Walsh began feeling the heat when the 49ers slipped to a 6-5 record late last season. The 49ers won four of their last five games and then surged through the playoffs, beating Cincinnati in the final minute of the Super Bowl.
Less than a week later, Walsh resigned as coach, but made sure DeBartolo selected Seifert as his replacement.
Now Walsh has completely stepped away from the 49ers. His record with the 49ers was 102-63-1.