The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Sean Kugler

Sean Kugler slid UTEP from Regional Program IV to Regional Program V in 5 seasons.

18–36

2013–2017 · 1 stint

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).

UTEP, 5 seasons

−6.0

Regional Program V → Regional Program V.

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

UTEP15.4pt#47 of 258 · more 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.

Winless in 4 tries against Skip Holtz.

One-score games

7–6

53.8% · margin ≤8

The toughest matchup

vs. Skip Holtz0–4

4 meetings, 2013–2016

’13 L’14 L’15 L · blew a 7-pt lead’16 L

0% win rate across a real, 4-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

Power Program

0–4 0.0%

National Program

0–4 0.0%

Regional Program

16–23 41.0%

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

-0.41

#281 of 319 · less than most

Defense marginal impact

+0.14

#75 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2013–2017

UTEPcaretaker

Regional Program IV → Regional Program V

Sean Kugler slid UTEP from Regional Program IV to Regional Program V in 5 seasons.

13th-best UTEP tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-20.9 pts

#179 of 208 · less than most

Defense vs. talent

+7.4 pts

#73 of 208 · a typical amount

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 Dana Dimel (2018–2023).

Season	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Record & result
Record	2–10	7–6	5–7	4–8	0–7
Postseason	—	L bowl	—	—	—
Recruiting rank	—	#117	#127	#123	#129
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	—	33.4	46.3	44.4	48.8
Coordinators
OC	—	Patrick Higgins	Patrick Higgins	Brent Pease	Brent Pease
DC	—	Scott Stoker	Scott Stoker	Tom Mason	Tom Mason
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	—	16	7	19	0
Defense	—	25	64	25	27
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	—	30.4	37.7	29.1	37.4
Red-zone pass%	—	28.6	58.9	32.6	34.1
4th-down go%opp. territory	—	21.2	12.9	50.0	22.7

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: Lost to Utah State 6–21 Gildan New Mexico Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: Aaron Jones (2017), Will Hernandez (2018)

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