The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Brian Stewart.

Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.33#431 of 458 · less 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400median still in the jobnot a pathMaryland, year 1: 33rd percentileMarylandRice, year 1: 6th percentileRiceMaryland, year 1: 29th percentileMarylandMiddle Tennessee, year 1: 6th percentileMiddle Tennessee, year 2: 27th percentileMiddle Tenne…
Maryland 2014–2014
Rice 2017–2017
Maryland 2021–2021
Middle Tennessee 2024–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Middle Tennessee, 3 years
+20.5
6.3 to 26.8 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
2014–2014Marylandno record33.233.2
2017–2017Rice5.95.85.8−36.6
2021–2021Maryland49.228.828.8−28.3
2024–2026Middle Tennessee74.16.326.8−23.8

No prior-season record for the first stop (Maryland, 2014) — the data floor starts there.

Rice 2017–2017: ranked 6th the year before he arrived, 6th at its best — went backwards.

Maryland 2021–2021: ranked 49th the year before he arrived, 29th at its best — went backwards.

Middle Tennessee 2024–2026: ranked 74th the year before he arrived, 27th at its best — went backwards.

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