What If : Bill Walsh Was Named Head Coach Instead of Bill “Tiger” Johnson

“What If”

                  Bill Walsh was named Head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals

                      Instead of Bill “Tiger” Johnson

Starting out on this little exercise in revisionist history, I have to make a few things clear. I grew up with a very close connection with this team. My hometown was the summer training camp for them for the first twenty some odd years of their existence in the National Football League. I spent most of my late summers watching the likes of Greg Cook and Kenny Anderson throw the ball to Speedy Thomas, Chip Myers, and Charlie Joiner.  I watched defensive line coach Chuck Studley put the defense line through its paces on the auxiliary field at Wilmington College. And I also witnessed the the dog days of august spark a fight or two. In addition, my father had access to season tickets to the Bengals from the company he worked for so Sundays in the fall where a special time for my Family and we saw some history making moments in the NFL. The jumping off point for this little what if begins after the loss in the playoffs to the Miami dolphins.  PB had just resigned his position as head coach and named his successor to be Offensive Line coach Bill “ Tiger” Johnson  and not offensive coordinator/ Guru Bill Walsh . This was not a popular decision and nearly caused my dad to give up his tickets and stop going to the games. Well we all know how history played out so let’s just grab Sherman and Mr. Peabody and jump in the way back machine to ponder what might have been.

Well remembering that Brown’s last year and Johnson’s were 11-3 and 10-4, Walsh had a good core to work from. They had also complied some high end picks with the Bill Bergy Trade. The problem is no matter how well they are stocked the Steelers are still the Steelers so from about 76 – 79  I would say the best they could have done was maybe one our two wild card appearances , losing to the Steelers at least once in the AFC championship game. Along the way, Walsh Drafts Notre Dame Quarterback Joe Montana, fearing age and Injury may catch up with starter Kenny Anderson. He also signs some reclamation projects on the defense, namely Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds at middle Linebacker to help Jim Leclair with the new 34 defense they have switched to.

The pivotal year is nineteen eighty one. Father time has caught up to the mighty Steelers in a big way with Terry Bradshaw nursing a broken wrist on his non throwing hand.  The chief Rivals that season are the San Diego Chargers and their vaunted Air Coryell Offense. The meet in what was described as the coldest game in NFL History and the Bengals win a closely fought game with number one Draft choice Cris Collingsworth catches the game winner with seconds on the clock in a blinding whiteout snow storm. They are off to the silver dome in Pontiac Michigan to face… You guessed it, Americas team the Dallas Cowboys.

The game itself was somewhat anti climatic as the Bengals offense controlled the clock and the line of scrimmage enroute  to a 28- 14  victory over the “ Boys”  Anderson was named MVP , Ike Curtis Set receiving yardage record and tight end Dan Ross set the catches record.

The next year Anderson’s season was cut short with a knee injury and after holding a clip board for two and a half years, young Montana is finally getting his big chance. He leads them to a second half victory against the Browns and the next week slices up the Steeler secondary enroute to a big win. On the defensive side of the ball, free safety Ronnie Lott is gaining a fast reputation as a ball Hawk with multiple Pick Sixes, and hard hits on some of the best receivers playing at that time. The year ends with them missing the playoffs and going home having to pick up the pieces of a disappointing season.

The next year, Anderson takes a pay cut to stay and help Montana with his game and back him up. The first round draft yielded a phenomal athlete from a small Mississippi college named Jerry Rice. Curtis stayed around for another year as well so he could help out the young Rice with his budding NFL Career. With Collingsworth, Curtis, and a Number three like Rice, the Bengal Offense blew through the league like Sherman heading two Atlanta. This would set up an eventual set up a confrontation between Montana and an even younger QB that went by the name of Marino. Once again the weather would be on our side when they played in January and in a shootout, the Bengals when the AFC Championship again 42- 38.

The opponents for the big game this time were the Washington Redskins, John Riggins having run all over the playoff opponents until they ran into Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley and the Bengal Defense. The game was a low scoring affair with Jim Breech Kicking the Winning Field goal with seconds on the clock for the win.

In this little exercise, the eighties were very kind to the Bengals and coach Walsh. This is how it would break down from 1976 – 1987

5- 7 division titles

2 Wild card appearances

3-4 AFC Championships

At least 2 super Bowl titles

They will win one more after Walsh Retires from Coaching to just be the GM. How it all ends is after PB goes and Mike takes over, He and Walsh clash on Money and the price of players. In the end Walsh retires sighting health reasons in the early nineties and with the end result being the being Mike is in charge, we still get the same swoon that we got any way. But just think about how it could have been If……………