The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Nate Woody.

Defensive coordinator · 11 seasons · 6 stints · 4 programs2 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.40#20 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 6Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122n=67n=39median still in the jobnot a pathApp State, year 1: 76th percentileApp State, year 2: 97th percentileApp State, year 3: 89th percentileApp State, year 4: 81st percentileApp StateGeorgia Tech, year 1: 12th percentileGeorgia TechArmy, year 1: 91st percentileArmy, year 2: 34th percentileArmy, year 3: 68th percentileArmy, year 4: 18th percentileArmy, year 5: 47th percentileArmy, year 6: 50th percentileArmyCincinnati: just hired
App State 2014–2017
Georgia Tech 2018–2018
Army 2020–2025
Cincinnati 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
App State, 4 years
+5.0
76.2 to 81.2 percentile.
Army, 6 years
−41.3
90.9 to 49.6 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
2014–2017App Stateno record76.297.3+52.4
2018–2018Georgia Tech50.411.911.9−41.6
2020–2020Army33.590.990.9+63.2
2021–2021Army90.934.234.2+6.6
2022–2025Army34.268.368.3+18.7
2026–2026Cincinnatino record

No prior-season record for the first stop (App State, 2014) — the data floor starts there.

Georgia Tech 2018–2018: ranked 50th the year before he arrived, 12th at its best — went backwards.

Army 2021–2021: ranked 91st the year before he arrived, 34th at its best — went backwards.

Cincinnati: just hired, no season coached yet.

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