The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Jordan Peterson.

Defensive coordinator · 3 seasons · 3 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.17#350 of 458 · less than most

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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400median still in the jobnot a pathNew Mexico, year 1: 8th percentileNew MexicoTexas A&M, year 1: 64th percentileTexas A&M, year 2: 72nd percentileTexas A&MKansas State: just hired
New Mexico 2019–2019
Texas A&M 2024–2025
Kansas State 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Texas A&M, 2 years
+7.9
63.8 to 71.7 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
2019–2019New Mexico18.88.18.1−33.4
2024–2025Texas A&M77.163.871.7+1.2
2026–2026Kansas Stateno record

New Mexico 2019–2019: ranked 19th the year before he arrived, 8th at its best — went backwards.

Texas A&M 2024–2025: ranked 77th the year before he arrived, 72nd at its best — went backwards.

Kansas State: just hired, no season coached yet.

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