The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Mike Tressel.

Defensive coordinator · 10 seasons · 7 stints · 3 programs2 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.33#37 of 458 · more 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 3Year 4Year 5Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122n=67median still in the jobnot a pathMichigan State, year 1: 60th percentileMichigan State, year 2: 57th percentileMichigan State, year 3: 63rd percentileMichigan State, year 4: 97th percentileMichigan State, year 5: 82nd percentileMichigan StCincinnati, year 1: 94th percentileCincinnati, year 2: 87th percentileCincinnatiWisconsin, year 1: 60th percentileWisconsin, year 2: 48th percentileWisconsin, year 3: 56th percentileWisconsin
Michigan State 2015–2019
Cincinnati 2021–2022
Wisconsin 2023–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Michigan State, 5 years
+22.2
59.8 to 81.9 percentile.
Cincinnati, 2 years
−6.8
94.2 to 87.4 percentile.
Wisconsin, 4 years
−4.3
59.8 to 55.5 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
2015–2017Michigan State80.959.862.7+0.5
2018–2019Michigan State62.797.397.3+32.4
2021–2021Cincinnati96.594.294.2+41.4
2022–2022Cincinnati94.287.487.4+33.8
2023–2023Wisconsin79.059.859.8+1.7
2024–2024Wisconsin59.848.148.1−10.8
2025–2026Wisconsin48.155.555.5−3.2

Michigan State 2015–2017: ranked 81st the year before he arrived, 63rd at its best — went backwards.

Cincinnati 2021–2021: ranked 96th the year before he arrived, 94th at its best — went backwards.

Cincinnati 2022–2022: ranked 94th the year before he arrived, 87th at its best — went backwards.

Wisconsin 2023–2023: ranked 79th the year before he arrived, 60th at its best — went backwards.

Wisconsin 2024–2024: ranked 60th the year before he arrived, 48th at its best — went backwards.

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