The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach
Kevin Steele.
Defensive coordinator · 8 seasons · 4 stints · 4 programs2 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.09not 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.
LSU 2015–2015
Auburn 2016–2020
Miami 2022–2022
Alabama 2023–2023
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Auburn, 5 years
▼ 57.7
75.4 to 17.7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2015 | LSU | 91.0 | 71.5 | 71.5 | ▲ 3.7 |
| 2016–2020 | Auburn | 78.5 | 75.4 | 93.5 | ▲ 8.4 |
| 2022–2022 | Miami | 61.9 | 45.4 | 45.4 | ▼ 17.7 |
| 2023–2023 | Alabama | 91.2 | 72.6 | 72.6 | ▼ 2.5 |
LSU 2015–2015: ranked 91st the year before he arrived, 71st at its best — went backwards.
Miami 2022–2022: ranked 62nd the year before he arrived, 45th at its best — went backwards.
Alabama 2023–2023: ranked 91st the year before he arrived, 73rd at its best — went backwards.