The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Doc Holliday

Followed Mark Snyder. Doc Holliday moved Marshall from Regional Program II to National Program II in 11 seasons.

85–54
2010–2020 · 1 stint
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached National Program in his 5th career season — faster than 14% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #547 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Marshall, 11 seasons
+10.3
Regional Program III → Regional Program I.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

40%50%Marshall2010–2020▼ 3.8pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)
How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints
Marshall12.5pt#78 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

0–3 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against George O'Leary.

Rivalry record
0–3
0.0% · 1 rival
One-score games
23–17
57.5% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
The toughest matchup
3 meetings, 2010–2012
’10 L’11 L’12 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
0–1 0.0%
Power Program
0–8 0.0%
National Program
11–12 47.8%
Regional Program
63–32 66.3%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
-0.24
#250 of 319 · less than most
Defense marginal impact
+0.41
#20 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2010–2020
Marshallcaretakerborderline🏆 coach of the year
Regional Program II → National Program II
Doc Holliday moved Marshall from Regional Program II to National Program II in 11 seasons.

3rd-best Marshall tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
-12.8 pts
#160 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
+22.0 pts
#27 of 208 · more than most
Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Mark Snyder (2005–2009) · succeeded by Charles Huff (2021–2024).

Season20102011201220132014201520162017201820192020Trend
Record & result
Record5–77–65–710–413–110–33–98–59–48–57–3
PostseasonW bowlW bowlW bowlW bowlL bowlL bowl
Recruiting rank#62#75#51#87#74#71#96
Style — pass rate
Pass rate45.848.752.549.347.740.042.1
Coordinators
OCBill LeggBill LeggBill LeggBill LeggTim CramseyTim CramseyTim Cramsey
DCChuck HeaterChuck HeaterChuck HeaterChuck HeaterAdam FullerBrad Lambert / J. C. PriceBrad Lambert / J. C. Price
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense96461138432342
Defense86912180806381
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%43.944.052.445.445.538.038.8
Red-zone pass%42.243.949.156.042.427.334.3
4th-down go%opp. territory40.520.919.434.921.224.448.3
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: Bill Legg → Tim Cramsey · 2018the system held
25th pct33rd pct0th100th
2-season window either side.
1st-down pass rate: 48.9% → 41.7% (-7.2 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 48% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: Chuck Heater → Adam Fuller · 2018
80th pct80th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: Adam Fuller → co-Brad Lambert / co-J. C. Price · 2019
80th pct63rd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Grows Edge from high school
100%
#191 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2014: Beat Northern Illinois 52–23 Boca Raton Bowl2015: Beat UConn 16–10 St. Petersburg Bowl2017: Beat Colorado State 31–28 Gildan New Mexico Bowl2018: Beat South Florida 38–20 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl2019: Lost to UCF 25–48 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl2020: Lost to Buffalo 10–17 Camellia Bowl

8 NFL Draft picks: Lee Smith (2011), Vinny Curry (2012), Aaron Dobson (2013), Garrett Scott (2014), Darryl Roberts (2015), Justin Rohrwasser (2020), Chris Jackson (2020), Josh Ball (2021)

Coach of the Year: Conference USA Coach of the Year (2020)

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Cain Madden (2020)

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