The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Blake Baker.

Defensive coordinator · 10 seasons · 5 stints · 4 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.18#93 of 458 · more than most

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 3Year 4Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122median still in the jobnot a pathLouisiana Tech, year 1: 71st percentileLouisiana Tech, year 2: 11th percentileLouisiana Tech, year 3: 73rd percentileLouisiana Tech, year 4: 70th percentileLouisiana Te…Miami, year 1: 80th percentileMiami, year 2: 38th percentileMiamiMissouri, year 1: 61st percentileMissouri, year 2: 93rd percentileMissouriLSU, year 1: 47th percentileLSU, year 2: 75th percentileLSU
Louisiana Tech 2015–2018
Miami 2019–2020
Missouri 2022–2023
LSU 2024–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Louisiana Tech, 4 years
−1.1
70.7 to 69.6 percentile.
Miami, 2 years
−42.2
80.4 to 38.2 percentile.
Missouri, 2 years
+32.2
60.7 to 92.9 percentile.
LSU, 3 years
+28.0
46.6 to 74.6 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
2015–2018Louisiana Tech93.470.772.7+9.1
2019–2020Miami94.280.480.4−2.5
2022–2023Missouri12.760.792.9+18.1
2024–2025LSU6.446.674.6−6.0
2026–2026LSUno record

Louisiana Tech 2015–2018: ranked 93rd the year before he arrived, 73rd at its best — went backwards.

Miami 2019–2020: ranked 94th the year before he arrived, 80th at its best — went backwards.

LSU: just hired, no season coached yet.

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