The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Shiel Wood.

Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 6 stints · 5 programs2 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.55#5 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659median still in the jobnot a pathArmy, year 1: 34th percentileArmyTroy, year 1: 94th percentileTroyTulane, year 1: 57th percentileTulaneHouston, year 1: 72nd percentileHoustonTexas Tech, year 1: 100th percentileTexas Tech
Army 2021–2021
Troy 2022–2022
Tulane 2023–2023
Houston 2024–2024
Texas Tech 2025–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
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
2021–2021Army90.934.234.2+6.6
2022–2022Troy54.294.394.3+49.1
2023–2023Tulane33.256.856.8+9.6
2024–2024Houston28.972.072.0+21.6
2025–2025Texas Tech19.099.699.6+41.2
2026–2026Texas Techno record

Army 2021–2021: ranked 91st the year before he arrived, 34th at its best — went backwards.

Texas Tech: just hired, no season coached yet.

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