The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Joe Cauthen.
Defensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 4 stints · 4 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.03#246 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.
Arkansas State 2014–2018
Houston 2019–2020
Buffalo 2021–2021
Utah State 2023–2023
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Arkansas State, 5 years
+25.4
51.2 to 76.5 percentile.
Houston, 2 years
+24.7
12.7 to 37.4 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
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2018 | Arkansas State | no record | 51.2 | 97.3 | +27.9 |
| 2019–2020 | Houston | 5.0 | 12.7 | 37.4 | −27.3 |
| 2021–2021 | Buffalo | 72.0 | 17.3 | 17.3 | −16.1 |
| 2023–2023 | Utah State | 32.4 | 12.4 | 12.4 | −29.7 |
No prior-season record for the first stop (Arkansas State, 2014) — the data floor starts there.
Buffalo 2021–2021: ranked 72nd the year before he arrived, 17th at its best — went backwards.
Utah State 2023–2023: ranked 32nd the year before he arrived, 12th at its best — went backwards.