The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Todd Orlando.

Defensive coordinator · 12 seasons · 8 stints · 7 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.15#111 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 of that tenure, not calendar yearn=659n=400n=218median still in the jobnot a pathUtah State, year 1: 89th percentileUtah StateHouston, year 1: 59th percentileHouston, year 2: 87th percentileHoustonTexas, year 1: 94th percentileTexas, year 2: 50th percentileTexas, year 3: 53rd percentileTexasUSC, year 1: 57th percentileUSC, year 2: 14th percentileUSCFlorida Atlantic, year 1: 49th percentileFlorida AtlanticSouth Florida, year 1: 71st percentileSouth Florida, year 2: 65th percentileSouth Florida, year 3: 79th percentileSouth FloridaSouth Alabama: just hired
Utah State 2014–2014
Houston 2015–2016
Texas 2017–2019
USC 2020–2021
Florida Atlantic 2022–2022
South Florida 2023–2025
South Alabama 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Houston, 2 years
+28.1
59.0 to 87.1 percentile.
Texas, 3 years
−40.8
94.2 to 53.5 percentile.
USC, 2 years
−42.9
57.1 to 14.2 percentile.
South Florida, 3 years
+8.0
71.1 to 79.0 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
2014–2014Utah Stateno record89.589.5
2015–2016Houston67.659.087.1+21.8
2017–2018Texas55.194.294.2+7.5
2019–2019Texas49.653.553.5−13.4
2020–2021USC18.157.157.1−29.2
2022–2022Florida Atlantic58.849.249.2+0.1
2023–2025South Florida1.171.179.0+20.9
2026–2026South Alabamano record

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

Florida Atlantic 2022–2022: ranked 59th the year before he arrived, 49th at its best — went backwards.

South Alabama: just hired, no season coached yet.

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