Stanford football legend and former athletic director Bill Walsh passed away on Monday morning at his Woodside, Calif. home. The three-time Super Bowl champion coach died at age 75 after a long battle with leukemia.

Walsh was a fixture of both the Cardinal and national sports scenes. His Hall-of-Fame turn as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1988 was bookended by a total of five seasons leading Stanford football, 1977-78 and 1992-94.

While he may be best remembered for his NFL accomplishments and his innovative West Coast Offense, Walsh’s many years at Stanford — whether as head coach or, in his later years, as an adviser and interim athletic director — resonate just as strongly in Cardinal history.

Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby lamented the loss of “a great friend” to the Stanford athletics family at a press conference on Monday afternoon. Walsh, who was interim athletic director when Bowlsby was hired, helped Bowlsby transition into his position and remained a special assistant up until his death.

“Even before I arrived at Stanford last year, Bill reached out and said, ‘Call upon me; I am happy to help,’” Bowlsby said. “Through the 12 months that ensued, nothing could have been more spot on.

“Bill, in a short time, taught me an awful lot about the challenges that were here, what the opportunities were, who the people I could trust were and who the people I ought to keep an eye on were,” he added.

When Walsh became head football coach, he was no stranger to Stanford athletics. A former wide receiver for San Jose State University, Walsh also served as a defensive backs coach for the Cardinal in the 1963 and 1964 seasons.

Walsh assumed the head coaching job 13 years later and found immediate success. Following a lackluster 6-5 record in 1976, the Cardinal went 9-3 under Walsh in 1977, eventually winning that year’s Sun Bowl. It was the Cardinal’s first bowl victory in six years, and in the following season, Stanford went 8-4 on its way to a Bluebonnet Bowl victory.

Former Cardinal running back and NFL player Darrin Nelson ‘81 said that Walsh’s talent was evident in the coach’s two Stanford coaching seasons prior to his transition to the professional leagues.

“His offensive was innovative then as well,” the 1977 freshman said in a University press release. “He was also a fabulous person who was funny, caring, considerate and always thought about his athletes.”

When Walsh stepped on to the national scene as head coach of the 49ers, many of those traits became front-and-center as he found and developed some of the NFL’s greatest talent. At Monday’s conference, NFL Hall-of-Famer Steve Young, Super Bowl XXIII MVP Jerry Rice and the 49ers’ Keena Turner all paid their respects to the man who propelled their careers.

“He knew talent; he knew how to mold it,” Rice said, describing the chance Walsh took on him; Rice was an unlikely draft pick from Mississippi Valley State University.

Super Bowl ring dangling from the chain around his neck, Rice added that he had longed for the day when he would be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame — with an introduction from Walsh.

Turner shared a similar account of being under Walsh’s tutelage for 11 years. The former 49ers lineback described how his relationship with Walsh evolved over the years — from student to co-worker and friend.

When Walsh returned to Stanford in 1992, Turner joined him as outside linebackers coach and gained a better understanding of the man many called “The Genius” of football.

“I think at Bill’s core he was a teacher,” Turner said, adding that Stanford was a special place for Walsh because it brought together a high standard of education and sport in which Walsh felt comfortable being instrumental.

The 1992 season was Walsh’s most successful of his three years of Cardinal coaching after his return from the 49ers, with a 10-3 record and Blockbuster Bowl win. The years following were more difficult, with 4-7 and 3-7-1 records, respectively, and the legendary coach stepped down.

“When you’re young, the euphoria of winning balances out the heartache of losing,” then-athletic director Ted Leland said in a University press release. “When you get older, the euphoria isn’t as high, but the heartache is just as big, so the euphoria is tempered. Bill wasn’t having fun winning and he was really struggling with the losses. So he stepped down.”

Walsh didn’t leave Stanford for good, however. After the two-time NFL Coach of the Year served as 49ers general manager 1999-2001, he helped teach a 2002 course in sports business management at the Graduate School of Business. Soon afterwards, he helped create the NFL-Stanford Executive Education Program with GSB Prof. George Foster and former Cardinal wide receiver Gene Washington ‘69.

In early 2004, Walsh became a special assistant to Leland. That same year he was diagnosed with leukemia, but did not publicly announce his diagnosis until November 2006, while serving as interim director.

While many knew Walsh was nearing the end of his accomplished life in the following months, he remained close to Cardinal athletes, coaches and administrators, serving as a resource and an active representative.

New head football coach Jim Harbaugh said that he had met the football legend when he was playing for the Chicago bears 18 years ago. The then 49ers coach pulled him behind a fence to work on footwork drills and teach him “eight or nine things I still hang on to.”

This past year, though, Harbaugh truly got to know “The Genius” after one fateful phone call.

“He was the first person to call me and ask if I had interest in the head coaching job at Stanford,” the former University of San Diego coach said. “I still have that voicemail on my phone; I’ve played it for about 300 people.”

Just a few weeks later, Walsh’s office was less than 30 seconds from Harbaugh’s own, and the legend was passing along stories and wisdom over lunch. One day, Walsh was having lunch with Young, and the two ran into Harbaugh on campus.

“Not to add anymore pressure to you Jim, but [Walsh] said, ‘[Harbaugh is] going to be a great coach,’” Young reminisced, giving one of only a few smiles at Monday’s conference. “That’s quite a compliment from Bill.”

In the end, it is these memories of Walsh that remain, along with the many seeds of talent he helped plant in football and in life.

“He was loved here at Stanford University for everything that he’s done for all the student-athletes and coaches that have come through here,” Harbaugh said as he sat alongside his football colleagues. “He’s done so much for everyone you see up at this table, and for thousands of others.”