The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Steve Campbell

Followed Joey Jones. Steve Campbell held South Alabama at Regional Program IV for 4 seasons.

9–26

2018–2021 · 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 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).

South Alabama, 4 seasons

−1.9

Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV.

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)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

South Alabama12.5pt#80 of 258 · a typical amount

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.

0–3 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Billy Napier.

Rivalry record

0–3

0.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

3–5

37.5% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Troy0–30%

The toughest matchup

vs. Billy Napier0–3

3 meetings, 2018–2020

’18 L’19 L · blew a 4-pt lead’20 L

0% win rate across a real, 3-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

Power Program

0–2 0.0%

National Program

0–3 0.0%

Regional Program

5–19 20.8%

Coaching career

2018–2021

South Alabamacaretaker

Regional Program IV → Regional Program IV

Steve Campbell held South Alabama at Regional Program IV for 4 seasons.

4th-best South Alabama tenure of 4 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-21.9 pts

#181 of 208 · less than most

Defense vs. talent

-5.0 pts

#126 of 208 · a typical amount

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 Joey Jones (2012–2017).

Season	2018	2019	2020	2021
Record & result
Record	3–9	2–10	4–7	5–7
Postseason	—	—	—	—
Recruiting rank	#115	#125	#109	#121
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	39.5	35.7	45.5	48.1
Coordinators
OC	Kenny Edenfield	Kenny Edenfield	Kenny Edenfield	Major Applewhite
DC	Greg Stewart	Greg Stewart	Greg Stewart	Corey Batoon
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	18	11	18	24
Defense	13	50	29	50
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	31.7	33.2	36.6	47.9
Red-zone pass%	30.0	18.2	36.6	36.7
4th-down go%opp. territory	50.0	44.0	52.2	66.7

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.0★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

#93 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′1″, 215 lbs

across 5 of 13 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+2.0 lbs

#182 of 255 · a typical amount

Avg. class year

#149 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: AL (3), TX (2)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

31.3

position-weighted

Talent lost

31.3

position-weighted

Net

+0.0

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Allen Dailey (WR) from Kentucky

Biggest loss: Chance Lovertich (QB) to Mississippi State

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.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

215 lbs

6′3″ avg · #319 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

209 lbs

5′10″ avg · #309 of 791 · a typical amount

Wide receiver

199 lbs

6′1″ avg · #123 of 791 · more than most

Tight end

242 lbs

6′4″ avg · #483 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

D-line

283 lbs

6′2″ avg · #417 of 753 · a typical amount

Linebacker

232 lbs

6′1″ avg · #208 of 772 · a typical amount

Safety

202 lbs

6′0″ avg · #54 of 346 · more than most

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys ATH via the portal

15%

#32 of 146 stints

Grows Interior line from high school

78%

#172 of 224 stints

Grows Running back from high school

86%

#187 of 208 stints

2 NFL Draft picks: Kawaan Baker (2021), Jalen Tolbert (2022)

9–26