The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Scottie Hazelton.
Defensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 4 stints · 4 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.30#49 of 458 · more than most
model fit as of 2026-09-04
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.
Wyoming 2017–2018
Kansas State 2019–2019
Michigan State 2020–2023
Wake Forest 2025–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Wyoming, 2 years
−9.2
97.3 to 88.1 percentile.
Michigan State, 4 years
−35.3
66.5 to 31.2 percentile.
Wake Forest, 2 years
−41.1
85.7 to 44.6 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
−1.5
first season to last, across 239 stints of 3+ years. 48.1% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | Wyoming | 13.7 | 97.3 | 97.3 | +56.9 |
| 2019–2019 | Kansas State | 50.4 | 36.5 | 36.5 | −12.3 |
| 2020–2023 | Michigan State | 81.9 | 66.5 | 66.5 | −18.7 |
| 2025–2026 | Wake Forest | 20.5 | 85.7 | 85.7 | +36.8 |
Kansas State 2019–2019: ranked 50th the year before he arrived, 37th at its best — went backwards.
Michigan State 2020–2023: ranked 82nd the year before he arrived, 67th at its best — went backwards.