Pro sports teams where the coaching staffs had a split locus of control (e.g. mid-1980s Chicago Bears)

Interesting read, but kind of a bizarre example. The Ditka/Ryan relationship was a train wreck from the beginning, mostly (IMHO) because Buddy Ryan was a psycho, same guy who later punched Kevin Gilbride on the sidelines during a game when they were coordinators for the Oilers (and there were reports of Ryan and Ditka having to be held off of each other multiple times during practices during their Bears' tenure as well). Buddy also publicly criticized Gilbride's run and shoot offense. He was poison to that team. I wouldn't want that kind of animosity going on in practice and games day in/day out. Yes, the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985, but that team was loaded and probably should have won more. I know some claim Ryan leaving for the Eagles in 1986 was what kept them from winning more, but the guy was certifiably nuts (and if that was really the case, how come the Eagles didn't start dominating the NFL?). I can't help but think that it took so long for them to get to the Super Bowl because of all the bickering that was going on from 81-84 between Ryan and Ditka.

KleinBottle's comparison of CSP and Greg Williams is a better comparison. I'm big for delegation, so I think a head ought to be relying on the defensive and offensive coordinators to take charge of their respective sides of the ball. That was the case for many of the great head coaches back in the day. In this age of ego-maniacs like Saban and Bellicheck winning by doing it all themselves and largely stifling their assistants, it seems like that sort of accountability and trust has become the outlier instead of the norm, but I'm probably overstating it.

DA just isn't a head coach. He's been a terrific defensive coordinator, but both here and with the Raiders, he's never shown the skill set or personality to be the top man in charge.