The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Nate Fuqua.

Defensive coordinator · 8 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.02#241 of 458 · a typical amount

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 6Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122n=67n=39median still in the jobnot a pathGeorgia State, year 1: 43rd percentileGeorgia State, year 2: 3rd percentileGeorgia State, year 3: 7th percentileGeorgia State, year 4: 59th percentileGeorgia State, year 5: 70th percentileGeorgia State, year 6: 68th percentileGeorgia StCincinnati, year 1: 0th percentileCincinnati, year 2: 56th percentileCincinnatiTulane: just hired
Georgia State 2017–2022
Cincinnati 2023–2024
Tulane 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Georgia State, 6 years
+24.9
42.7 to 67.6 percentile.
Cincinnati, 2 years
+55.2
0.4 to 55.6 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
2017–2022Georgia State77.742.770.4−0.7
2023–2023Cincinnati87.40.40.4−52.9
2024–2024Cincinnati0.455.655.6+4.0
2026–2026Tulaneno record

Georgia State 2017–2022: ranked 78th the year before he arrived, 70th at its best — went backwards.

Cincinnati 2023–2023: ranked 87th the year before he arrived, 0th at its best — went backwards.

Tulane: just hired, no season coached yet.

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