The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Shane Montgomery

Shane Montgomery held Massachusetts at Regional Program VI for 1 season.

Peak, then fade
17–33
2005–2024 · 2 stints
Miami (OH)Massachusetts
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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.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerMIAMI (OH)MASSACHUSETTSNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelMiami (OH), 2005: 7-4, National Program II2005Miami (OH), 2006: 2-10, National Program III2006Miami (OH), 2007: 6-7, Regional Program I2007Miami (OH), 2008: 2-10, Regional Program II2008-8.8Massachusetts, 2024: 0-2, Regional Program VI2024+0.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

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).

Miami (OH), 4 seasons
−8.8
National Program II → Regional 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%Massachusetts2024–2024– 0.0pt
Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

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.

2–5 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Brian Kelly.

Rivalry record
2–5
28.6% · 2 rivals
One-score games
9–9
50.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Ohio1–325%
Cincinnati1–233%
The toughest matchup
vs. Brian Kelly0–3
3 meetings, 2005–2008
’05 L’07 L’08 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
0–3 0.0%
National Program
1–4 20.0%
Regional Program
15–21 41.7%

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
-0.26
#254 of 319 · less than most
Defense marginal impact
-0.31
#295 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2024–2024
Massachusettscaretaker
Regional Program VI → Regional Program VI
Shane Montgomery held Massachusetts at Regional Program VI for 1 season.

5th-best Massachusetts tenure of 7 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
+3.5 pts
#95 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-39.4 pts
#204 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.

Succeeded by Joe Harasymiak (2025–2026).

Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
29
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
23
left via the portal
Net portal flow
+6
#11 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

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

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′2″, 228 lbs
across 22 of 29 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-3.0 lbs
#245 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Sr
#7 of 255 · more than most
Top states: FL (4), PA (2), CA (2), GA (2), MD (2)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
49.5
position-weighted
Talent lost
42.8
position-weighted
Net
+6.7
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Ryan Jankowski (QB) from Akron
Biggest loss: Jordan Mahoney (CB) to Arkansas 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.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Interior line via the portal
80%
#10 of 224 stints
Buys Tackle via the portal
75%
#11 of 223 stints
0–2
2005–2008
Miami (OH)caretaker
National Program II → National Program II
Shane Montgomery held Miami (OH) at National Program II for 4 seasons.

6th-best Miami (OH) tenure of 14 by the numbers.

Followed Terry Hoeppner (1999–2004) · succeeded by Michael Haywood (2009–2010).

4 NFL Draft picks: Alphonso Hodge (2005), Terna Nande (2006), Ryne Robinson (2007), Jake O'Connell (2009)

17–31