The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Clayton White.
Defensive coordinator · 10 seasons · 3 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.31#48 of 458 · more than most
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.
Western Kentucky 2017–2020
South Carolina 2021–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Western Kentucky, 4 years
+50.4
31.9 to 82.3 percentile.
South Carolina, 6 years
+5.1
50.4 to 55.4 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
−1.5
first season to last, across 239 stints of 3+ years. 48.1% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–2019 | Western Kentucky | 51.2 | 31.9 | 75.8 | +14.5 |
| 2020–2020 | Western Kentucky | 75.8 | 82.3 | 82.3 | +36.4 |
| 2021–2026 | South Carolina | 4.3 | 50.4 | 84.0 | +0.6 |