The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Larry Fedora

Followed Everett Withers. Larry Fedora moved North Carolina from National Program II to National Program I in 7 seasons.

The journeyman
79–62
2008–2018 · 2 stints
← 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 National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

Southern Miss, 4 seasons
+2.6
National Program II → National Program II.
North Carolina, 7 seasons
+1.6
National Program I → National Program II.

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%North Carolina2012–2018– 0.1pt
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
North Carolina9.6pt#140 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.

7–9 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Justin Fuente.

Rivalry record
7–9
43.8% · 3 rivals
One-score games
27–33
45.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
1–0
100.0%
Rivalry ledger
Duke2–529%
NC State3–443%
The toughest matchup
vs. Justin Fuente0–3
3 meetings, 2016–2018
’16 L’17 L’18 L · blew a 9-pt lead
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
1–0 100.0%
Power Program
8–21 27.6%
National Program
23–17 57.5%
Regional Program
34–22 60.7%

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
+0.29
#59 of 319 · more than most
Defense marginal impact
-0.14
#248 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2012–2018
North Carolinacaretaker
National Program II → National Program I
Larry Fedora moved North Carolina from National Program II to National Program I in 7 seasons.

7th-best North Carolina tenure of 17 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent
+2.6 pts
#100 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-24.0 pts
#185 of 208 · less 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 Everett Withers (2011–2011).

Season2012201320142015201620172018Trend
Record & result
Record8–47–66–711–38–53–92–9
PostseasonL bowlL bowlCFP loss
Recruiting rank#30#28#32#29#20
Style — pass rate
Pass rate50.643.753.348.850.7
Coordinators
OCChris Kapilovic / Seth LittrellSeth LittrellChris Kapilovic / Gunter BrewerChris Kapilovic / Gunter BrewerChris Kapilovic
DCDan Disch / Ron WestGene ChizikGene ChizikJohn PapuchisJohn Papuchis
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense5499822837
Defense018483933
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%47.041.546.443.045.5
Red-zone pass%32.239.645.339.534.3
4th-down go%opp. territory41.018.431.651.625.0
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: co-Chris Kapilovic / co-Seth Littrell → Seth Littrell · 2015
54th pct99th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 47.0% → 41.5% (-5.5 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 88% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
OC: Seth Littrell → co-Chris Kapilovic / co-Gunter Brewer · 2016
99th pct82nd pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 41.5% → 46.4% (+5.0 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 57% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
OC: co-Chris Kapilovic / co-Gunter Brewer → Chris Kapilovic · 2018
28th pct37th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 43.0% → 45.5% (+2.4 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 82% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: co-Dan Disch / co-Ron West → Gene Chizik · 2015
0th pct18th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
DC: Gene Chizik → John Papuchis · 2017the system held
33rd pct36th pct0th100th
2-season window either side.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows K from high school
100%
#52 of 56 stints
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
Postseason detail2014: Lost to Rutgers 21–40 Quick Lane Bowl2015: Lost to Baylor 38–49 Russell Athletic Bowl2016: Lost to Stanford 23–25 CFP

22 NFL Draft picks: Quinton Coples (2012), Zach Brown (2012), Jonathan Cooper (2013), Sylvester Williams (2013), Giovani Bernard (2013), Brennan Williams (2013), Travis Bond (2013), Eric Ebron (2014) + 14 more

45–43
2008–2011
Southern Misscaretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Larry Fedora held Southern Miss at National Program II for 4 seasons.

4th-best Southern Miss tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Jeff Bower (1990–2007) · succeeded by Ellis Johnson (2012–2012).

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

4 NFL Draft picks: Robert Henderson (2008), Shawn Nelson (2009), Gerald McRath (2009), Lamar Holmes (2012)

34–19