The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Phil Bennett.

Defensive coordinator · 6 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.07#277 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218median still in the jobnot a pathBaylor, year 1: 38th percentileBaylor, year 2: 54th percentileBaylor, year 3: 63rd percentileBaylorArizona State, year 1: 24th percentileArizona StateNorth Texas, year 1: 75th percentileNorth Texas, year 2: 10th percentileNorth Texas
Baylor 2014–2016
Arizona State 2017–2017
North Texas 2021–2022
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Baylor, 3 years
+25.0
37.9 to 62.9 percentile.
North Texas, 2 years
−65.5
75.0 to 9.5 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
2014–2016Baylorno record37.962.9+2.2
2017–2017Arizona State7.424.224.2−36.2
2021–2021North Texas5.975.075.0+27.8
2022–2022North Texas75.09.59.5−38.4

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

North Texas 2022–2022: ranked 75th the year before he arrived, 10th at its best — went backwards.

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