The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Al Golden

Followed Randy Shannon. Al Golden inherited a Blue Blood Miami and won with it.

The ascent
59–59
2006–2015 · 2 stints
TempleMiami
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerTEMPLEMIAMIBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelTemple, 2006: 1-11, Regional Program V2006Temple, 2007: 4-8, Regional Program V2007Temple, 2008: 5-7, Regional Program V2008Temple, 2009: 9-4, Regional Program V2009Temple, 2010: 8-4, Regional Program IV2010+2.0Miami, 2011: 6-6, Power Program I2011Miami, 2012: 7-5, Power Program I2012Miami, 2013: 9-4, Power Program I2013Miami, 2014: 6-7, Power Program I2014Miami, 2015: 4-3, Power Program II2015-7.5One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 6th career season — faster than 25% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #279 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Temple, 5 seasons
+2.0
Regional Program V → Regional Program IV.
Miami, 5 seasons
−7.5
Power Program I → Power Program II.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

50%Miami2011–2015▲ 4.8pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

3–7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Jimbo Fisher.

Rivalry record
3–7
30.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
23–20
53.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
2–3
40.0%
Rivalry ledger
Virginia Tech3–260%
Florida State0–50%
The toughest matchup
vs. Jimbo Fisher0–5
5 meetings, 2011–2015
’11 L’12 L’13 L’14 L · blew a 16-pt lead’15 L · blew a 1-pt lead
0% win rate across a real, 5-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
2–3 40.0%
Power Program
6–19 24.0%
National Program
15–13 53.6%
Regional Program
33–23 58.9%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
-0.01
#164 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
-0.05
#199 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2011–2015
Miamiinheritor
Blue Blood → Power Program I
Al Golden inherited a Blue Blood Miami and won with it.

7th-best Miami tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
-10.6 pts
#152 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-20.7 pts
#177 of 208 · less than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Randy Shannon (2007–2010) · succeeded by Mark Richt (2016–2018).

Season20112012201320142015Trend
Record & result
Record6–67–59–46–74–3
Postseason———L bowlL bowl
Recruiting rank———#12#27
Style — pass rate
Pass rate———46.751.5
Coordinators
OC———James ColeyJames Coley
DC———Mark D'OnofrioMark D'Onofrio
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense———7552
Defense———6841
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%———44.144.7
Red-zone pass%———50.045.0
4th-down go%opp. territory———36.621.3
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Grows Running back from high school
100%
#196 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2014: Lost to South Carolina 21–24 Duck Commander Independence Bowl2015: Lost to Washington State 14–20 Hyundai Sun Bowl

28 NFL Draft picks: Orlando Franklin (2011), Brandon Harris (2011), Leonard Hankerson (2011), Demarcus Van Dyke (2011), Allen Bailey (2011), Colin McCarthy (2011), Richard Gordon (2011), Matt Bosher (2011) + 20 more

32–25
2006–2010
Templecaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program IV
Al Golden moved Temple from Regional Program V to Regional Program IV in 5 seasons.

14th-best Temple tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed Bobby Wallace (1998–2005) · succeeded by Steve Addazio (2011–2012).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Grows Tackle from high school
100%
#198 of 223 stints

3 NFL Draft picks: Terrance Knighton (2009), Muhammad Wilkerson (2011), Jaiquawn Jarrett (2011)

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