The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Tim Albin

Followed Frank Solich. Tim Albin moved Ohio from Regional Program II to Regional Program I in 4 seasons.

35–30
2021–now · 2 stints
← all coaches

In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

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 careerOHIOCHARLOTTENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelOhio, 2021: 3-9, Regional Program II2021Ohio, 2022: 10-4, Regional Program II2022Ohio, 2023: 10-3, Regional Program II2023Ohio, 2024: 11-3, Regional Program I2024+3.8Charlotte, 2025: 1-11, Regional Program V2025Charlotte, 2026: in progress, Regional Program V2026-1.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

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).

Ohio, 4 seasons
+3.8
Regional Program II → Regional Program I.
Charlotte, 2 seasons (active)
−1.1
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.

40%50%Ohio2021–2024▼ 4.2ptCharlotte2025–2026– 0.0pt
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
Ohio10.8pt#112 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.

3–3 against his rivals. Just 1–2 against Jason Candle.

Rivalry record
3–3
50.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
11–5
68.8% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–1
0.0%
Buyout owed
$2,041,667
bigger than 20% of FBS buyouts
Rivalry ledger
Miami (OH)3–260%
App State0–10%
The toughest matchup
vs. Jason Candle1–2
3 meetings, 2021–2024
’21 L · blew a 3-pt lead’22 L’24 W · erased a 7-pt deficit
33% 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
0–2 0.0%
National Program
2–10 16.7%
Regional Program
26–14 65.0%

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
+0.10
#112 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
+0.14
#73 of 325 · more than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2025–now
Charlotte
too new to grade yet

6th-best Charlotte tenure of 6 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
-40.1 pts
#207 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
-12.2 pts
#155 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.

Followed Biff Poggi (2023–2024).

Season20252026Trend
Record & result
Record1–110–0
Postseason
Recruiting rank#135#103
Style — pass rate
Pass rate51.151.1
Coordinators
OCTodd FitchTodd Fitch
DCKurt Mattix / Nate FaanesNate Faanes
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense037
Defense296
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%
Red-zone pass%
4th-down go%opp. territory
Roster construction · portal era

A portal-built roster.

Portal arrivals
53
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
71
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-18
#17 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

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

Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.

Avg. size (raw)
6′1″, 233 lbs
across 45 of 53 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
+1.5 lbs
#199 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Jr
#250 of 255 · less than most
Top states: NC (6), FL (5), OH (4), NY (3), GA (3)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
52.6
position-weighted
Talent lost
55.2
position-weighted
Net
-2.6
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Grayson Loftis (QB) from Duke
Biggest loss: Deshawn Purdie (QB) to Wake Forest
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.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
DC: co-Kurt Mattix / Nate Faanes → Nate Faanes · 2026
29th pct6th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys Tackle via the portal
100%
#1 of 223 stints
Buys Running back via the portal
100%
#1 of 208 stints

AI Narratives — “Charlotte — stat check”.

1–11
2021–2024
Ohiocaretaker🏆 coach of the year ×2
Regional Program II → Regional Program I
Tim Albin moved Ohio from Regional Program II to Regional Program I in 4 seasons.

4th-best Ohio tenure of 11 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

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

Offense vs. talent
+30.5 pts
#12 of 208 · more than most
Defense vs. talent
+19.1 pts
#32 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 Frank Solich (2005–2020) · succeeded by Brian Smith (2025–2025).

Season2021202220232024Trend
Record & result
Record3–910–410–311–3
PostseasonW bowlW bowlW bowl
Recruiting rank#98#126#96#92
Style — pass rate
Pass rate41.948.544.137.7
Coordinators
OCAllen Rudolph / Scott IsphordingAllen Rudolph / Scott IsphordingAllen Rudolph / Scott IsphordingBrian Smith
DCRon Collins / Pete GermanoSpence NowinskySpence NowinskyJohn Hauser / Nate Faanes
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense40756089
Defense20229488
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%41.646.647.138.6
Red-zone pass%36.737.735.024.5
4th-down go%opp. territory25.623.924.419.2
Roster construction · portal era

Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.

Portal arrivals
29
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
49
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-20
#149 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″, 227 lbs
across 21 of 29 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-1.4 lbs
#240 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Sr
#9 of 255 · more than most
Top states: OH (4), AZ (2), MI (2), CA (2), NJ (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
50.4
position-weighted
Talent lost
54.5
position-weighted
Net
-4.2
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Parker Navarro (QB) from UCF
Biggest loss: Kurtis Rourke (QB) to Indiana
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.
Does the system survive a coordinator change?
OC: co-Allen Rudolph / co-Scott Isphording → Brian Smith · 2024
60th pct89th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
1st-down pass rate: 47.1% → 38.6% (-8.5 pts)
Confound, shown not hidden: only 13% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.
DC: Spence Nowinsky → John Hauser / co-Nate Faanes · 2024
94th pct88th pct0th100th
1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
218 lbs
6′4″ avg · #223 of 767 · a typical amount
Running back
214 lbs
5′11″ avg · #165 of 791 · more than most
Wide receiver
195 lbs
6′0″ avg · #274 of 791 · a typical amount
Tight end
253 lbs
6′5″ avg · #110 of 731 · more than most
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
301 lbs
6′4″ avg · #683 of 779 · less than most
D-line
298 lbs
6′2″ avg · #115 of 753 · more than most
Edge
241 lbs
6′3″ avg · #170 of 188 · less than most
Linebacker
228 lbs
6′2″ avg · #409 of 772 · a typical amount
Cornerback
189 lbs
5′11″ avg · #459 of 771 · a typical amount
Safety
196 lbs
6′0″ avg · #188 of 346 · a typical amount
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
Grows D-line from high school
78%
#183 of 239 stints
Grows Running back from high school
83%
#186 of 208 stints
Postseason detail2022: Beat Wyoming 30–27 Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl2023: Beat Georgia Southern 41–21 Myrtle Beach Bowl2024: Beat Jacksonville State 30–27 StaffDNA Cure Bowl

Coach of the Year: MAC Coach of the Year (2022), MAC Coach of the Year (2024)

34–19