The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Tony Petersen.
Offensive coordinator · 7 seasons · 5 stints · 5 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense−0.09#371 of 472 · less 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.
Louisiana Tech 2014–2015
East Carolina 2016–2018
App State 2020–2020
Illinois 2021–2021
Northern Illinois 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Louisiana Tech, 2 years
+5.5
79.3 to 84.8 percentile.
East Carolina, 3 years
−47.0
54.3 to 7.3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2015 | Louisiana Tech | no record | 79.3 | 84.8 | +37.7 |
| 2016–2018 | East Carolina | 48.8 | 54.3 | 54.3 | −18.1 |
| 2020–2020 | App State | 85.0 | 65.7 | 65.7 | +24.9 |
| 2021–2021 | Illinois | 39.0 | 18.8 | 18.8 | −34.3 |
| 2026–2026 | Northern Illinois | no record | — | — | — |
No prior-season record for the first stop (Louisiana Tech, 2014) — the data floor starts there.
App State 2020–2020: ranked 85th the year before he arrived, 66th at its best — went backwards.
Illinois 2021–2021: ranked 39th the year before he arrived, 19th at its best — went backwards.
Northern Illinois: just hired, no season coached yet.