Dino Vournas / Reuters

Retired star wide receiver Jerry Rice greets a mourner before the memorial for former NFL and Stanford coach Bill Walsh on Thursday.

Most of the prominent coaches who trace their success to a job under Walsh attended the service, including George Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Ray Rhodes and Pete Carroll, along with Walsh’s peers and friends, such as Don Shula, Dick Vermeil and John Madden. Current 49ers coach Mike Nolan read a passage of scripture.

Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott joined dozens of Walsh’s former players with the 49ers and at Stanford, where he coached two terms over five seasons.

“I live my life partly because of the way he molded me,” a teary-eyed Montana said. “He took a 189-pound, skinny-legged quarterback out of western Pennsylvania and gave me the opportunity to continue doing something that I loved.”

Young focused on Walsh’s preternatural teaching abilities, but also provided a moment of levity when he recalled his first meeting with Walsh on a practice field in Provo, Utah, in 1987.

“He said, ’I thought you were 6-foot-2,” recalled the 6-foot quarterback.

“Somehow he could take inventory of what you were today and see what you could become in the future,” added Young, who was en route to visit Walsh last month when the coach died. “What more could anyone ask than to have a coach who could foretell how high you could fly, and then gave you the wings?”

Edwards listed Walsh’s football innovations, from his ingenious pass-first schemes that later became known as the West Coast offense to his landmark achievements in practice and game preparation — everything from the laminated play cards used by coaches to the practice of scripting the game’s opening offensive plays.

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Edwards then praised Walsh for his founding role in the minority internship program that developed several future head coaches, from Super Bowl champion Tony Dungy to Dennis Green and Marvin Lewis. Walsh also pioneered the idea of teaching post-football life skills to players before they left the league, Goodell said.

“Everywhere one turns in this league, one will find the input and influence of Bill Walsh,” Edwards said. “Bill Walsh’s life is a portrait of a life well-lived.”

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