The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Brian Smith

8–4
2025–now · 1 stint
Ohio
← all coaches

In his own words

When I was drinking energy drinks I could feel it for sure, I would get shaky. It was really bad because I also wasn't eating well.
I always felt like it was a quarterback award unless you have a crazy season like DeVonta Smith with 1,800 yards and 24 touchdowns
FOX Sports8 days before the opener

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 careerOHIONational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelOhio, 2025: 8-4, Regional Program I2025+0.3One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

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.

40%Ohio2025–2025– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

Coaching career

2025–now
Ohio
too new to grade yet

2nd-best Ohio tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
+37.0 pts
#10 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
+27.6 pts
#11 of 208 · more 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 Tim Albin (2021–2024).

Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
21
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
16
left via the portal
Net portal flow
+5
#37 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 239 lbs
across 20 of 21 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+1.1 lbs
#212 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Jr
#181 of 255 · a typical amount
Top states: OH (6), CA (2), GA (2), FL (1), MI (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
45.2
position-weighted
Talent lost
33.6
position-weighted
Net
+11.6
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Tim Carpenter (QB) from Tulsa
Biggest loss: Bradley Weaver (DL) to Rutgers
Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Safety via the portal
100%
#1 of 218 stints
Buys Tackle via the portal
67%
#21 of 223 stints
Postseason detail2025: Beat UNLV 17–10 Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl
8–4
How to read this. Bands and archetypes come from the Zeitgeist List’s season-by-season stature model, and only apply once a stint clears 3 coached seasons in our ledger — a newer stint shows its real record with no stature judgment yet.