The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Kyle Flood

Kyle Flood moved Rutgers from National Program III to National Program II in 4 seasons.

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2012–2015 · 1 stint

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.

Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Rutgers, 4 seasons

+0.8

National Program II → National Program III.

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.

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.

1–1 against his rivals.

Rivalry record

1–1

50.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

10–7

58.8% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–2

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Maryland1–150%

Performance by opponent class

Blue Blood

0–2 0.0%

Power Program

3–11 21.4%

National Program

7–8 46.7%

Regional Program

11–2 84.6%

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

+0.00

#149 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

-0.22

#275 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2012–2015

Rutgerscaretaker

National Program III → National Program II

Kyle Flood moved Rutgers from National Program III to National Program II in 4 seasons.

3rd-best Rutgers tenure of 11 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

-6.6 pts

#138 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

-43.1 pts

#208 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.

Succeeded by Chris Ash (2016–2019).

Season	2012	2013	2014	2015
Record & result
Record	9–4	6–7	8–5	4–8
Postseason	—	—	W bowl	—
Recruiting rank	—	—	#56	#56
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	—	—	42.2	41.8
Coordinators
OC	—	—	Ralph Friedgen	Ben McDaniels
DC	—	—	Joe Rossi	Joe Rossi
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	—	63	47
Defense	—	—	11	11
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	—	—	36.2	34.2
Red-zone pass%	—	—	33.0	35.6
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	—	27.3	42.4

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

OC: Ralph Friedgen → Ben McDaniels · 2015

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 36.2% → 34.2% (-2.0 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 46% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

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: Beat North Carolina 40–21 Quick Lane Bowl

11 NFL Draft picks: Mohamed Sanu (2012), Logan Ryan (2013), Duron Harmon (2013), Khaseem Greene (2013), D.C. Jefferson (2013), Jawan Jamison (2013), Steve Beauharnais (2013), Marcus Cooper (2013) + 3 more

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