The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Anthony Poindexter.
Defensive coordinator · 13 seasons · 8 stints · 4 programs4 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.11#142 of 458 · a typical amount
model fit as of 2026-09-04
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.
UConn 2014–2016
Purdue 2017–2020
Penn State 2021–2025
Tennessee 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
UConn, 3 years
−8.6
44.1 to 35.5 percentile.
Purdue, 4 years
−28.3
70.4 to 42.1 percentile.
Penn State, 5 years
−18.0
91.9 to 73.9 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
−1.5
first season to last, across 239 stints of 3+ years. 48.1% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2016 | UConn | no record | 44.1 | 80.9 | +13.2 |
| 2017–2019 | Purdue | 9.0 | 70.4 | 70.4 | −10.3 |
| 2020–2020 | Purdue | 37.3 | 42.1 | 42.1 | −13.1 |
| 2021–2021 | Penn State | 72.8 | 91.9 | 91.9 | +29.7 |
| 2022–2023 | Penn State | 91.9 | 96.6 | 98.1 | +34.2 |
| 2024–2024 | Penn State | 98.1 | 98.1 | 98.1 | +33.5 |
| 2025–2025 | Penn State | 98.1 | 73.9 | 73.9 | +8.8 |
| 2026–2026 | Tennessee | 34.9 | 72.8 | 72.8 | — |
No prior-season record for the first stop (UConn, 2014) — the data floor starts there.
Penn State 2025–2025: ranked 98th the year before he arrived, 74th at its best — went backwards.