The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Dave Patenaude.

Offensive coordinator · 7 seasons · 3 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense−0.05#318 of 472 · a typical amount

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 offense’s national rank, by year of tenureYear 1Year 2Year 3Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=691n=405n=203median still in the jobnot a pathTemple, year 1: 55th percentileTemple, year 2: 50th percentileTempleGeorgia Tech, year 1: 13th percentileGeorgia Tech, year 2: 49th percentileGeorgia Tech, year 3: 13th percentileGeorgia TechBuffalo, year 1: 38th percentileBuffalo, year 2: 12th percentileBuffalo
Temple 2017–2018
Georgia Tech 2019–2021
Buffalo 2024–2025
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Temple, 2 years
−5.4
55.0 to 49.6 percentile.
Georgia Tech, 3 years
+0.0
13.5 to 13.5 percentile.
Buffalo, 2 years
−25.6
37.7 to 12.1 percentile.
Median offensive coordinator
+4.7
first season to last, across 222 stints of 3+ years. 52.7% improve at all.

Every stop on the calendar

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2017–2018Temple59.855.055.0+4.7
2019–2021Georgia Tech67.313.549.2−31.5
2024–2025Buffalo7.937.737.7−11.3

Temple 2017–2018: ranked 60th the year before he arrived, 55th at its best — went backwards.

Georgia Tech 2019–2021: ranked 67th the year before he arrived, 49th at its best — went backwards.

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