The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Joel Gordon.

Offensive coordinator · 4 seasons · 3 stints · 2 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense+0.08#113 of 472 · more than most
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.

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=749n=434n=222median still in the jobnot a pathSouth Florida, year 1: 55th percentileSouth Florida, year 2: 55th percentileSouth Florida, year 3: 93rd percentileSouth FloridaAuburn, year 1: 18th percentileAuburn
South Florida 2023–2025
Auburn 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
South Florida, 3 years
+38.5
54.5 to 93.0 percentile.
Median offensive coordinator
−0.6
first season to last, across 222 stints of 3+ years. 48.6% improve at all.

Every stop on the calendar

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2023–2024South Florida67.654.554.9+4.7
2025–2025South Florida54.993.093.0+41.7
2026–2026Auburn55.518.518.5

South Florida 2023–2024: ranked 68th the year before he arrived, 55th at its best — went backwards.

Auburn 2026–2026: ranked 56th the year before he arrived, 18th at its best — went backwards.

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