The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach
Jim Leavitt.
Defensive coordinator · 6 seasons · 4 stints · 4 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.32not distinguishable from zero
model fit as of 2026-09-04
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.
Colorado 2015–2016
Oregon 2017–2018
Florida Atlantic 2020–2020
SMU 2021–2021
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Colorado, 2 years
▲ 37.5
47.3 to 84.8 percentile.
Oregon, 2 years
▼ 23.1
91.2 to 68.1 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
+0.5
first season to last, across 235 stints of 3+ years. 50.6% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | Colorado | 18.4 | 47.3 | 84.8 | ▲ 14.9 |
| 2017–2018 | Oregon | 2.0 | 91.2 | 91.2 | ▲ 20.4 |
| 2020–2020 | Florida Atlantic | 81.2 | 72.8 | 72.8 | ▲ 25.1 |
| 2021–2021 | SMU | 28.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | ▼ 25.6 |
Florida Atlantic 2020–2020: ranked 81st the year before he arrived, 73rd at its best — went backwards.
SMU 2021–2021: ranked 28th the year before he arrived, 25th at its best — went backwards.