The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Scottie Hazelton.

Defensive coordinator · 8 seasons · 4 stints · 4 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.30#47 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122median still in the jobnot a pathWyoming, year 1: 97th percentileWyoming, year 2: 88th percentileWyomingKansas State, year 1: 37th percentileKansas StateMichigan State, year 1: 67th percentileMichigan State, year 2: 37th percentileMichigan State, year 3: 20th percentileMichigan State, year 4: 31st percentileMichigan StWake Forest, year 1: 86th percentileWake Forest
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.
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
2017–2018Wyoming13.797.397.3+56.9
2019–2019Kansas State50.436.536.5−12.3
2020–2023Michigan State81.966.566.5−18.7
2025–2026Wake Forest20.585.785.7+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.

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