The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Harlon Barnett.

Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.06#169 of 458 · 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 defense’s national rank, by year of tenureYear 1Year 2Year 3Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218median still in the jobnot a pathMichigan State, year 1: 60th percentileMichigan State, year 2: 57th percentileMichigan State, year 3: 63rd percentileMichigan StFlorida State, year 1: 64th percentileFlorida State, year 2: 77th percentileFlorida State
Michigan State 2015–2017
Florida State 2018–2019
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Michigan State, 3 years
+2.9
59.8 to 62.7 percentile.
Florida State, 2 years
+12.3
64.2 to 76.5 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
2015–2017Michigan State80.959.862.7+0.5
2018–2019Florida State84.264.276.5+3.2

Michigan State 2015–2017: ranked 81st the year before he arrived, 63rd at its best — went backwards.

Florida State 2018–2019: ranked 84th the year before he arrived, 77th at its best — went backwards.

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