The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

D'Anton Lynn.

Defensive coordinator · 3 seasons · 3 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.22#73 of 458 · more 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 pathUCLA, year 1: 85th percentileUCLAUSC, year 1: 40th percentileUSC, year 2: 33rd percentileUSCPenn State: just hired
UCLA 2023–2023
USC 2024–2025
Penn State 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
USC, 2 years
−6.5
39.9 to 33.5 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
2023–2023UCLA17.985.385.3+25.9
2024–2025USC10.239.939.9−25.8
2026–2026Penn Stateno record

Penn State: just hired, no season coached yet.

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