The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Glenn Thomas.

Offensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 6 stints · 5 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense+0.05#156 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: 60th percentileTempleBaylor, year 1: 31st percentileBaylor, year 2: 83rd percentileBaylor, year 3: 57th percentileBaylorUNLV, year 1: 31st percentileUNLV, year 2: 23rd percentileUNLVArizona State, year 1: 59th percentileArizona StateNebraska, year 1: 46th percentileNebraska, year 2: 40th percentileNebraska
Temple 2016–2016
Baylor 2017–2019
UNLV 2020–2021
Arizona State 2022–2022
Nebraska 2024–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Baylor, 3 years
+26.2
31.2 to 57.3 percentile.
UNLV, 2 years
−7.6
31.1 to 23.5 percentile.
Nebraska, 3 years
−5.8
45.9 to 40.1 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
2016–2016Temple36.359.859.8+11.4
2017–2019Baylor71.531.283.5+0.1
2020–2021UNLV31.231.131.1−15.0
2022–2022Arizona State78.859.259.2+3.3
2024–2024Nebraska25.945.945.9−14.9
2025–2026Nebraska45.940.140.1−21.7

UNLV 2020–2021: ranked 31st the year before he arrived, 31st at its best — went backwards.

Arizona State 2022–2022: ranked 79th the year before he arrived, 59th at its best — went backwards.

Nebraska 2025–2026: ranked 46th the year before he arrived, 40th at its best — went backwards.

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