Been trying to think of a non football comp to Bill Snyder, and I think I found a decent one in John Boyd. John Boyd was a fighter pilot and military strategist. He invented the energy maneuverability theory (E-M Theory) and the OODA loop. E-M Theory basically won the cold war because it made the air land battle doctrine possible, which in turn changed forever the way we fight wars. Basically he's the most important person you've never heard of. And yet most people have either never heard of him or overlook his contributions to the field. Part of the reason for this is because, unlike an Eisenhower or a Grant or a Ridgeway, he never "won the big one." His theories on military strategy would come to late to save the situation in Vietnam. Also, he was an aloof and arrogant jackass to the very people who would end up writing the history.
