The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Aazaar Abdul-Rahim.

Defensive coordinator · 4 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%

The tenure clock

Every stop re-aligned to its own first year, so the stops stack instead of scrolling past each other. The gray dashed line is a reference, not a path: each point is the median of whoever was still in the job that year, across every real OC/DC stint since 2014 at that role, and the pool shrinks year over year because surviving to a later year means not having been fired.

100th — best in the country90th — elite — top 10%75th — top quarter50th — national median25th — bottom quarter0 — worst in the countryHis defense’s national rank, by year of tenureYear 1Year 2Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400median still in the jobnot a pathMassachusetts, year 1: 0th percentileMassachusettsBoston College, year 1: 18th percentileBoston CollegeMaryland, year 1: 43rd percentileMaryland, year 2: 42nd percentileMaryland
Massachusetts 2019–2019
Boston College 2023–2023
Maryland 2024–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Maryland, 3 years
−0.6
42.9 to 42.3 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
+1.0
first season to last, across 239 stints of 3+ years. 52.3% improve at all.

Every stop on the calendar

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2019–2019Massachusetts17.30.40.4−38.0
2023–2023Boston College37.817.717.7−34.8
2024–2024Maryland84.642.942.9−10.5
2025–2026Maryland42.942.342.3−10.9

Massachusetts 2019–2019: ranked 17th the year before he arrived, 0th at its best — went backwards.

Boston College 2023–2023: ranked 38th the year before he arrived, 18th at its best — went backwards.

Maryland 2024–2024: ranked 85th the year before he arrived, 43rd at its best — went backwards.

Maryland 2025–2026: ranked 43rd the year before he arrived, 42nd at its best — went backwards.

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