The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Brad Cornelsen.

Offensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 3 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense−0.05#315 of 472 · a typical amount

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 offense’s national rank, by year of tenureYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Year 6Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=691n=405n=203n=102n=58n=27median still in the jobnot a pathMemphis, year 1: 55th percentileMemphisVirginia Tech, year 1: 59th percentileVirginia Tech, year 2: 26th percentileVirginia Tech, year 3: 63rd percentileVirginia Tech, year 4: 53rd percentileVirginia Tech, year 5: 80th percentileVirginia Tech, year 6: 53rd percentileVirginia TechSam Houston, year 1: 23rd percentileSam Houston, year 2: 9th percentileSam Houston
Memphis 2015–2015
Virginia Tech 2016–2021
Sam Houston 2023–2024
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Virginia Tech, 6 years
−6.3
59.0 to 52.7 percentile.
Sam Houston, 2 years
−13.6
22.9 to 9.3 percentile.
Median offensive coordinator
+4.7
first season to last, across 222 stints of 3+ years. 52.7% improve at all.

Every stop on the calendar

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2015–2015Memphis44.155.155.1+12.8
2016–2021Virginia Tech45.759.079.9−1.8
2023–2024Sam Houstonno record22.922.9−18.7
← Back to the Coordinators’ Climb