The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Todd Monken

Followed Ellis Johnson. Todd Monken slid Southern Miss from National Program III to Regional Program I in 3 seasons.

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2013–2015 · 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 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).

Southern Miss, 3 seasons

−7.5

Regional Program I → Regional 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.

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.

1–2 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Doc Holliday.

Rivalry record

1–2

33.3% · 1 rival

One-score games

2–5

28.6% · margin ≤8

vs. Blue Blood or better

0–1

0.0%

Rivalry ledger

Louisiana Tech1–233%

The toughest matchup

vs. Doc Holliday0–3

3 meetings, 2013–2015

’13 L’14 L · blew a 7-pt lead’15 L · blew a 7-pt lead

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

Dynasty

0–1 0.0%

Power Program

0–4 0.0%

National Program

1–5 16.7%

Regional Program

10–14 41.7%

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

+0.42

#36 of 319 · more than most

Defense marginal impact

+0.21

#59 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2013–2015

Southern Misscaretaker

National Program III → Regional Program I

Todd Monken slid Southern Miss from National Program III to Regional Program I in 3 seasons.

9th-best Southern Miss tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

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

Offense vs. talent

+44.1 pts

#3 of 208 · more than most

Defense vs. talent

+29.7 pts

#9 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 Ellis Johnson (2012–2012) · succeeded by Jay Hopson (2016–2020).

Season	2013	2014	2015
Record & result
Record	1–11	3–9	9–5
Postseason	—	—	L bowl
Recruiting rank	—	#82	#87
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	—	56.2	51.4
Coordinators
OC	—	Chip Lindsey	Chip Lindsey
DC	—	David Duggan	David Duggan
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	22	92
Defense	—	41	78
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	—	53.5	42.5
Red-zone pass%	—	50.7	49.0
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	17.1	41.3

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 detail2015: Lost to Washington 31–44 Zaxby's Heart Of Dallas Bowl

5 NFL Draft picks: Jamie Collins (2013), Khyri Thornton (2014), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (2015), Michael Thomas (2016), Kalan Reed (2016)

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