The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Cort Dennison.

Defensive coordinator · 2 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%

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 pathLouisville, year 1: 32nd percentileLouisvilleOregon State, year 1: 33rd percentileOregon State
Louisville 2021–2021
Oregon State 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
2021–2021Louisville61.031.931.9−19.7
2026–2026Oregon State54.833.033.0—

Louisville 2021–2021: ranked 61st the year before he arrived, 32nd at its best — went backwards.

Oregon State 2026–2026: ranked 55th the year before he arrived, 33rd at its best — went backwards.

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