The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach

Brad Cornelsen.

Offensive coordinator · 9 seasons · 3 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Offense−0.06not distinguishable from zero
model fit as of 2026-09-04

The tenure clock

Every stop re-aligned to its own first year, so the stops stack instead of scrolling past each other. The gray dashed line is a reference, not a path: each point is the median of whoever was still in the job that year, across every real OC/DC stint since 2014 at that role, and the pool shrinks year over year because surviving to a later year means not having been fired.

100th — best in the country90th — elite — top 10%75th — top quarter50th — national median25th — bottom quarter0 — worst in the countryHis offense’s national rank, by year of tenureYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Year 6Year of that tenure, not calendar yearn=755n=426n=222n=113n=65n=32Memphis, year 1: 55th percentileMemphisVirginia Tech, year 1: 59th percentileVirginia Tech, year 2: 26th percentileVirginia Tech, year 3: 63rd percentileVirginia Tech, year 4: 53rd percentileVirginia Tech, year 5: 75th percentileVirginia Tech, year 6: 42nd percentileVirginia TechSam Houston, year 1: 23rd percentileSam Houston, year 2: 9th percentileSam Houstonmedian still in the job
Memphis 2015–2015
Virginia Tech 2016–2021
Sam Houston 2023–2024
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Virginia Tech, 6 years
▼ 17.1
59.0 to 41.9 percentile.
Sam Houston, 2 years
▼ 13.6
22.9 to 9.3 percentile.
Median offensive coordinator
+0.5
first season to last, across 222 stints of 3+ years. 50.9% improve at all.

Every stop on the calendar

YearsProgramWalked intoYear 1BestVs. talent
2015–2015Memphis44.155.155.1▲ 12.8
2016–2021Virginia Tech45.759.075.2▼ 4.4
2023–2024Sam Houstonno record22.922.9▼ 18.7
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