The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Ted Roof.

Defensive coordinator · 10 seasons · 7 stints · 7 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.16#342 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 4Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218n=122median still in the jobnot a pathGeorgia Tech, year 1: 36th percentileGeorgia Tech, year 2: 53rd percentileGeorgia Tech, year 3: 20th percentileGeorgia Tech, year 4: 50th percentileGeorgia TechNC State, year 1: 28th percentileNC StateApp State, year 1: 85th percentileApp StateVanderbilt, year 1: 0th percentileVanderbiltOklahoma, year 1: 14th percentileOklahoma, year 2: 88th percentileOklahomaUCF, year 1: 71st percentileUCFBoston College: just hired
Georgia Tech 2014–2017
NC State 2018–2018
App State 2019–2019
Vanderbilt 2020–2020
Oklahoma 2022–2023
UCF 2024–2024
Boston College 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Georgia Tech, 4 years
+14.8
35.5 to 50.4 percentile.
Oklahoma, 2 years
+74.2
14.1 to 88.3 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
2014–2017Georgia Techno record35.552.7−12.0
2018–2018NC State55.028.128.1−27.2
2019–2019App State98.185.085.0+42.7
2020–2020Vanderbilt34.20.40.4−51.8
2022–2023Oklahoma53.514.188.3−14.3
2024–2024UCF74.870.570.5+12.9
2026–2026Boston Collegeno record

No prior-season record for the first stop (Georgia Tech, 2014) — the data floor starts there.

NC State 2018–2018: ranked 55th the year before he arrived, 28th at its best — went backwards.

App State 2019–2019: ranked 98th the year before he arrived, 85th at its best — went backwards.

Vanderbilt 2020–2020: ranked 34th the year before he arrived, 0th at its best — went backwards.

UCF 2024–2024: ranked 75th the year before he arrived, 71st at its best — went backwards.

Boston College: just hired, no season coached yet.

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