The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Chris Kiffin.

Defensive coordinator · 2 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.07#162 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.

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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=721median still in the jobnot a pathFlorida Atlantic, year 1: 63rd percentileFlorida AtlanticLSU, year 1: 92nd percentileLSU
Florida Atlantic 2017–2017
LSU 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
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
2017–2017Florida Atlantic0.463.563.5+15.4
2026–2026LSU74.692.492.4
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