Bill McPherson, a Bellarmine High and Santa Clara University football star, was a defensive coach for the 49ers during the 1980s and ’90s when the team won five Super Bowls. Except for four seasons in the 1970s when he coached at UCLA and with the Philadelphia Eagles, he spent his career in the Bay Area at his two alma maters and with the 49ers. With the 49ers he held five different positions, including assistant head coach, and retired as head of pro player personnel.

A consummate assistant and one of the top defensive minds in the sport, McPherson was inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.