football is way more than X’s and O’s. You need a certain amount of rah rah, and taking and enforcing accountability.
Even grown men and professionals feel doubt, pride creeps in, frustrations boil over, football still is an incredibly passion and energy fueled sport. You are always going to need a coach and at least one player on each side of the ball that can be the tone setter, the calm keeper, and the attitude adjuster for a team of 53 world class athletes who beat the shit out of eachother for 5 months out of every year.
The best head coaches are more than just X’s and O’s, they command respect from their whole team and lead by example, their presence alone keeps everyone sharp and focused. Sean mcvay, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, bill Belichick, all X’s and O’s guys but also run a tight ship and their players are consistently locked in, they are guys who players don’t wanna let down.