I don't even know where to start with this. Obviously, everything is mental, that is where it has to start. But a guy not making a tackle on special teams even though he was in position is not mental, it is physical. I have said this before and in my day of being around HS athletes, the good coaches get the players in position to make the plays, after that it is the players ability to make it that takes over. The mental part of the game comes, and this is where Stark came in, is when you are down and not playing well, you giving your best which is physical. You don't let your mind tell your body it is tired, that is mental and physical.
There are plenty of less than mental giants that are very good football players. You seemed to want to say it is all mental, well some is but football is a very physical game, no way around that. You hit the other guy harder than he hit you, over and over. I worked with kids who couldn't speak a lick of English and who had played very little football and X's and O's were a bit foreign to them but point them in a direction and tell him what they need to do physically and look out.
I have the feeling you and I aren't as far apart as you may think.
No, I'm not saying it is ALL mental and is obviously physical or we would all just be watching an animated movie or playstation for the game. But, you won't be in proper position on a play unless you thought about where you need to be in the first place. Your "head has to be in the game" so to speak.
Maybe in peewee football or junior high fb or even some hs fb you can get by with just brute force, but, obviously college fb is much more complex. But, you are saying you need very good athletes in the college game, which is obvious, but I am saying even those great athletes have to be mentally prepared and believe they can win.
IMO, NU had enough talent to win those 2 games. I'm not so sure they totally believed they would win them, however.
You, can also, have the greatest group of athletes ever assembled and still be beaten because they are not mentally ready to play the game. Just look at miami in 2001. They had some close calls even though they had tremendous talent..
You don't need geniuses to play football it is obvious. But preparation is at least half mental IMO. But what I am saying is if you don't have a winning attitude and at least think you can win, then most likely, you won't. You maybe wouldn't have won regardless, but without at least a belief you can win, then your chances are slim and none.
Also, if you are in the best possible position to make a play, you better be mentally ready to hit a guy even at the risk of getting hurt yourself, or you are going to close your eyes and whiff. Meanness and toughness are just as much a state of mind. Just ask a marine. That is why marines train and football players practice and, also, think about their assignments before a game. If they don't have them down before the game, they can be the biggest, fastest, and best athlete ever, but they'll still look like fools.
No, it is not all mental, but it sure isn't ALL physical. I was an undersized lineman in hs playing against some guys that were 75 pounds and 6 inches bigger than I was and I beat every one of them. I beat them because I KNEW that I would, and that started with a belief (and quickness, leverage, and pad level).
My uncle was an undersized O guard in hs and all conference, and later, a decorated combat marine in Korea. He taught me a lot about winning the battle up front. Believe me when I say that we had to believe we were going to beat those guys, or we would have had no chance to do it. I've been there and had a lot of fun doing it. It was like a brawl in there.
My specialty was getting tackles on KOs and punts. When I went down field hunting for the ball, I did it with an attitude and ready to hit someone and I got a lot of tackles. I remember once I was a little timid and had a clear shot at an all conference guy, but for some reason closed my eyes, whiffed, and ended up running into our bench. That was the one play my dad reminded me of years later when he was an old man. But, I wasn't "mentally" ready to put a hit on him.
That's why SF is trying to change the culture. It starts with a winning attitude. Even something as physical as going to the weight room. If one doesn't have the right frame of mind to go to work and get better, then they might not even show up as what was rumored to have happened the last few years.
Any and ALL movements in the human body first start out as a thought.