What about if we limit the question to championship coaches who never played? Dick Motta of the NBA’s Washington Bullets comes to mind.
He was the first person I thought of as well. Weis head coached at both the NCAA and NFL level, but played in neither league.
I would very much like to see that demonstrated.
As an example, I give you Isiah Thomas. Very high athletic prowess and dismal results as a coach in both the NBA & NCAA.
Bill Belichick didn’t even play college football from what I can tell. Bum Phillips, Mike Shanahan, Buddy Ryan, Rex Ryan and Wade Phillips didn’t play pro football either.
Of course you can. You can also train a horse to win the Kentucky Derby if you’re not a horse.
Sparky Anderson, Walt Alston, Tom Lasorda, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, and Dick Williams were extremely successful managers who were mediocre players. Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Moredecai Brown, Mel Ott, and Bill Terry were mediocre at managing. The skills required to manage have nothing to do with the skills needed to play baseball at a high level. Some people can do it, but there’s no reason why a top player has them, and many reasons why they don’t need to develop them.
It works the same for other sports.
Center for Wesleyan College, Middletown, CT. He was much better at lacrosse, though.