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

IceHot said

I think it speaks a lot to how great a coach Jim Lee Howell was. Before Belichick went on his Championship tear I went on record as saying that Jim Lee Howell and Steve Owen might have been two of 10 coaches* better than Belichick. I'm probably wrong about that but I will never stop being impressed by leaders that can empower those around them and help to make them the best they can be, hoping the student will some day outclass the master.

* 10 Coaches better than Belichick

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Tom Landry might have been the last true player-coach in the NFL. He played safety and punted for the 1954 and 1955 Giants AND at the same time was the team's defensive coordinator. Further: Landry invented the 4-3 defense during these years while still a player -- he had the Giants' nose tackle in the previous 5-2 defense stand up, take a few steps back, and line up with the linebackers.

This 1973 Texas Monthly article was a great read about Landry and his time coaching alongside Howell and Lombardi (scroll down about halfway to the giant capital "L" - "Lombardi and Landry were guiding forces behind the great New York Giants’ teams of the Fifties ..."). It's the kind of bygone-era sportswriting that's rarely seen these days.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/tom-landry-melting-the-plastic-man/