The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Brian Smith.

Defensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.20#372 of 458 · less than most
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.

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 5Year 6Year 7Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=721n=435n=239n=126n=76n=42n=26median still in the jobnot a pathRice, year 1: 9th percentileRice, year 2: 40th percentileRice, year 3: 90th percentileRice, year 4: 12th percentileRice, year 5: 6th percentileRice, year 6: 65th percentileRice, year 7: 55th percentileRiceTemple, year 1: 7th percentileTemple, year 2: 56th percentileTemple
Rice 2018–2024
Temple 2025–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Rice, 7 years
+46.0
8.8 to 54.9 percentile.
Temple, 2 years
+49.2
7.0 to 56.2 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

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2018–2024Rice5.88.890.2−2.6
2025–2026Temple27.27.056.2−32.8
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