The Zeitgeist List · coordinating

Kane Wommack

Defensive coordinator across 3 programs, 5 stints, before and after wearing the head-coach hat — every season measured on the same axis, whether he personally ran the unit or someone else did.

How to read this. Coordinator seasons come from coordinator_journeys(); head-coaching-era seasons are the same unit's FBS-relative percentile for those years, regardless of who coached it, read directly from staff_assignments. A role change (a “hinge”) is a fact, never a performance verdict — only the season-by-season data itself is colored by outcome.

The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Kane Wommack

Kane Wommack moved South Alabama from Regional Program V to Regional Program III in 3 seasons.

22–16

2021–2023 · 1 stint

South Alabama

← all coaches

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 Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

South Alabama, 3 seasons

+8.2

Regional Program IV → Regional Program III.

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.

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

South Alabama1.1pt#256 of 258 · less than most

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.

0–1 against his rivals.

Rivalry record

0–1

0.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

6–4

60.0% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Troy0–10%

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

1–0 100.0%

National Program

1–2 33.3%

Regional Program

13–4 76.5%

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

+0.20

#85 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

+0.19

#63 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2021–2023

South Alabamacaretaker

Regional Program V → Regional Program III

Kane Wommack moved South Alabama from Regional Program V to Regional Program III in 3 seasons.

3rd-best South Alabama tenure of 4 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

+14.7 pts

#50 of 208 · more than most

Defense vs. talent

+22.6 pts

#21 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.

Succeeded by Major Applewhite (2024–2026).

Season	2021	2022	2023
Record & result
Record	5–7	10–3	7–6
Postseason	—	L bowl	W bowl
Recruiting rank	#121	#102	#90
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	48.1	47.0	47.7
Coordinators
OC	Major Applewhite	Major Applewhite	Major Applewhite
DC	Corey Batoon	Corey Batoon	Corey Batoon
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	24	65	89
Defense	50	62	91
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	47.9	43.7	43.3
Red-zone pass%	36.7	30.4	30.8
4th-down go%opp. territory	66.7	44.4	43.3

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.0★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

+12

#99 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′2″, 229 lbs

across 21 of 37 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+1.6 lbs

#197 of 255 · less than most

Avg. class year

#117 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: AL (7), MS (5), TX (3), GA (2), OR (1)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

52.1

position-weighted

Talent lost

45.3

position-weighted

Net

+6.8

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Bishop Davenport (QB) from Utah State

Biggest loss: Chance Lovertich (QB) to Mississippi State

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

217 lbs

6′3″ avg · #265 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

207 lbs

5′9″ avg · #393 of 791 · a typical amount

Wide receiver

191 lbs

6′0″ avg · #484 of 791 · a typical amount

Tight end

247 lbs

6′3″ avg · #308 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

310 lbs

6′4″ avg · #316 of 779 · a typical amount

D-line

277 lbs

6′2″ avg · #540 of 753 · a typical amount

Linebacker

233 lbs

6′2″ avg · #194 of 772 · a typical amount

Cornerback

189 lbs

6′0″ avg · #459 of 771 · a typical amount

Safety

200 lbs

6′0″ avg · #87 of 346 · more than most

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys ATH via the portal

40%

#7 of 146 stints

Buys Quarterback via the portal

67%

#16 of 206 stints

Postseason detail2022: Lost to Western Kentucky 23–44 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl2023: Beat Eastern Michigan 59–10 68 Ventures Bowl

3 NFL Draft picks: Kawaan Baker (2021), Jalen Tolbert (2022), Darrell Luter Jr. (2023)

22–16