1979 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1979 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 30th season in the National Football League and their 34th overall. The season is noted for being O. J. Simpson’s final year and Joe Montana’s first season, as well as the first-year head coaching the 49ers for Bill Walsh.

1979 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr.
Head coach	Bill Walsh
General manager	Bill Walsh
Home field	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	2–14
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1979 49ers are the only team in NFL history to lose 12 games in which they held a lead.[1]

Offseason

NFL Draft

1979 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	29	James Owens	Running back	UCLA
3	82	Joe Montana * ^†	Quarterback	Notre Dame
5	111	Tom Seabron	Linebacker	Michigan
5	119	Jerry Aldridge	Running back	Angelo State
6	138	Ruben Vaughan	Defensive tackle	Colorado
7	166	Phil Francis	Running back	Stanford
9	221	Steve Hamilton	Defensive tackle	Missouri
10	249	Dwight Clark *	Wide Receiver	Clemson
10	252	Howard Ballage	Defensive back	Colorado
11	276	Billy McBride	Defensive Back	Tennessee St.
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1979 San Francisco 49ers staff

	Front office Owner and President – Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. General Manager – Bill Walsh Director of Player Personnel – John McVay Head coaches Head Coach – Bill Walsh Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Sam Wyche Running Backs – Billie Matthews Receivers – Dennis Green Offensive Line – Bobb McKittrick Administrative Assistant/Offensive Line – Mike White			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Bill McPherson Defensive Backs – Norb Hecker Special teams coaches Special Teams – Dennis Green Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Al Vermeil

Roster

1979 San Francisco 49ers roster

	Quarterbacks 17 Steve DeBerg 16 Joe Montana Running backs 35 Lenvil Elliott 38 Bob Ferrell FB 36 Paul Hofer 20 James Owens 32 O. J. Simpson Wide receivers 87 Dwight Clark 84 Mike Shumann 88 Freddie Solomon Tight ends 82 Bob Bruer 81 Ken MacAfee 85 Paul Seal		Offensive linemen 68 John Ayers G/T 77 Jean Barrett T 51 Randy Cross G 62 Walt Downing G 71 Keith Fahnhorst T 56 Fred Quillan C 67 Ron Singleton T Defensive linemen 76 Dwaine Board DE 79 Al Cowlings DT 86 Cedrick Hardman DE 78 Archie Reese DE 74 Jimmy Webb DT 72 Ruben Vaughan DT 66 Ted Vincent DT		Linebackers 57 Dan Bunz MLB 58 Gordy Ceresino 55 Scott Hilton OLB 59 Willie Harper OLB 54 Bob Martin OLB 50 Dave Morton 66 Bob Nelson MLB 53 Tom Seabron OLB Defensive backs 28 Charles Cornelius CB 27 Tony Dungy S 30 Tim Gray SS 22 Dwight Hicks CB 44 Charles Johnson CB 46 Melvin Morgan CB 29 Gerald Williams CB Special teams 11 Dan Melville P 14 Ray Wersching K		Reserve lists 65 Ernie Hughes G (IR) -- Pete Woods QB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	at Minnesota Vikings	L 28–22	46,539
2	September 9, 1979	Dallas Cowboys	L 21–13	56,728
3	September 16, 1979	at Los Angeles Rams	L 27–24	44,303
4	September 23, 1979	New Orleans Saints	L 30–21	39,727
5	September 30, 1979	at San Diego Chargers	L 31–9	50,893
6	October 7, 1979	Seattle Seahawks	L 35–24	44,592
7	October 14, 1979	at New York Giants	L 32–16	70,352
8	October 21, 1979	Atlanta Falcons	W 20–15	33,952
9	October 28, 1979	Chicago Bears	L 28–27	42,773
10	November 4, 1979	at Oakland Raiders	L 23–10	52,764
11	November 11, 1979	at New Orleans Saints	L 31–20	65,551
12	November 18, 1979	Denver Broncos	L 38–28	42,910
13	November 25, 1979	Los Angeles Rams	L 26–20	49,282
14	December 2, 1979	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 13–10	41,593
15	December 9, 1979	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–7	44,506
16	December 16, 1979	at Atlanta Falcons	L 31–21	37,211

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 9 0 6 15 • 49ers 7 0 7 6 20 Date: October 21 Location: Candlestick Park Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 57°F; wind 7

Scoring summary Q1 SF Solomon 56 yard run (Wersching kick) SF 7–0 Q2 ATL Mazzetti 23 yard field goal SF 7–3 Q2 ATL Jenkins 7 yard pass from Bartkowski (kick failed) ATL 9–7 Q3 SF Hofer 2 yard run (Wersching kick) SF 14–9 Q4 ATL Lawrence 41 yard blocked punt return (kick failed) ATL 15–14 Q4 SF Hofer 3 yard run (kick failed) SF 20–15

[3]

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams^(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–1	7–5	323	309	L1
New Orleans Saints	8	8	0	.500	4–2	8–4	370	360	W1
Atlanta Falcons	6	10	0	.375	2–4	5–7	300	388	W1
San Francisco 49ers	2	14	0	.125	1–5	2–10	308	416	L1

References

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, team lost game, team had a lead at some point in the game, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
2. "1979 San Francisco 49ers Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jun-20.

External links

• 1979 San Francisco 49ers at Pro-Football-Reference.com