The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Ron English.

Defensive coordinator · 6 seasons · 4 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.12#319 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 pathSan José State, year 1: 21st percentileSan José StatePurdue, year 1: 61st percentilePurdue, year 2: 19th percentilePurdueLouisville, year 1: 79th percentileLouisville, year 2: 61st percentileLouisville, year 3: 81st percentileLouisville
San José State 2016–2016
Purdue 2021–2022
Louisville 2023–2025
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Purdue, 2 years
−41.7
61.2 to 19.5 percentile.
Louisville, 3 years
+1.9
79.3 to 81.2 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
2016–2016San José State51.221.521.5−24.4
2021–2021Purdue42.161.261.2+7.0
2022–2022Purdue61.219.519.5−33.7
2023–2025Louisville97.379.381.2+17.6

San José State 2016–2016: ranked 51st the year before he arrived, 21st at its best — went backwards.

Purdue 2022–2022: ranked 61st the year before he arrived, 19th at its best — went backwards.

Louisville 2023–2025: ranked 97th the year before he arrived, 81st at its best — went backwards.

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