The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Shannon Dawson.
Offensive coordinator · 11 seasons · 5 stints · 5 programs2 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense+0.26#8 of 472 · 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.
West Virginia 2014–2014
Kentucky 2015–2015
Southern Miss 2016–2018
Houston 2020–2022
Miami 2023–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Southern Miss, 3 years
−54.1
67.6 to 13.5 percentile.
Houston, 3 years
+38.0
54.7 to 92.7 percentile.
Miami, 4 years
+20.5
68.8 to 89.3 percentile.
Median offensive coordinator
+4.7
first season to last, across 222 stints of 3+ years. 52.7% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2014 | West Virginia | no record | 49.6 | 49.6 | — |
| 2015–2015 | Kentucky | 28.5 | 39.5 | 39.5 | −16.6 |
| 2016–2018 | Southern Miss | 91.8 | 67.6 | 68.8 | +5.9 |
| 2020–2022 | Houston | 41.9 | 54.7 | 92.7 | +18.2 |
| 2023–2026 | Miami | 24.0 | 68.8 | 98.1 | +21.1 |
No prior-season record for the first stop (West Virginia, 2014) — the data floor starts there.
Southern Miss 2016–2018: ranked 92nd the year before he arrived, 69th at its best — went backwards.