The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach

Zac Spavital.

Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.18#361 of 458 · 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.

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 pathTexas Tech, year 1: 43rd percentileTexas TechTexas State, year 1: 30th percentileTexas State, year 2: 8th percentileTexas State, year 3: 8th percentileTexas State, year 4: 63rd percentileTexas St
Texas Tech 2018–2018
Texas State 2019–2022
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Texas State, 4 years
+32.6
30.4 to 63.0 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
2018–2018Texas Tech48.142.742.7−8.7
2019–2022Texas State63.530.463.0−14.7

Texas Tech 2018–2018: ranked 48th the year before he arrived, 43rd at its best — went backwards.

Texas State 2019–2022: ranked 63rd the year before he arrived, 63rd at its best — went backwards.

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