The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Peter Sirmon.

Defensive coordinator · 7 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.07#275 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122n=67median still in the jobnot a pathMississippi State, year 1: 18th percentileMississippi StateLouisville, year 1: 52nd percentileLouisvilleCalifornia, year 1: 78th percentileCalifornia, year 2: 73rd percentileCalifornia, year 3: 34th percentileCalifornia, year 4: 42nd percentileCalifornia, year 5: 60th percentileCalifornia
Mississippi State 2016–2016
Louisville 2017–2017
California 2020–2024
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
California, 5 years
−17.5
77.6 to 60.1 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
2016–2016Mississippi State43.418.418.4−39.9
2017–2017Louisville85.551.951.9−4.4
2020–2020California62.777.677.6+26.4
2021–2024California77.673.573.5−2.1

Mississippi State 2016–2016: ranked 43rd the year before he arrived, 18th at its best — went backwards.

Louisville 2017–2017: ranked 86th the year before he arrived, 52nd at its best — went backwards.

California 2021–2024: ranked 78th the year before he arrived, 73rd at its best — went backwards.

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