The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach

Josh Conklin.

Defensive coordinator · 4 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.28not 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.

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=730n=430n=235Florida International, year 1: 84th percentileFlorida InternationalPittsburgh, year 1: 25th percentilePittsburgh, year 2: 27th percentilePittsburgh, year 3: 56th percentilePittsburghmedian still in the job
Florida International 2014–2014
Pittsburgh 2015–2017
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Pittsburgh, 3 years
▲ 30.4
25.4 to 55.8 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

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2014–2014Florida International30.884.084.0—
2015–2017Pittsburgh1.225.455.8▼ 19.8
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