The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach
David Gibbs.
Defensive coordinator · 8 seasons · 6 stints · 3 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense−0.41not 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.
Houston 2014–2014
Texas Tech 2015–2018
UCF 2021–2023
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Texas Tech, 4 years
▲ 42.3
0.4 to 42.7 percentile.
UCF, 3 years
▲ 11.4
63.5 to 74.8 percentile.
Median defensive coordinator
+0.5
first season to last, across 235 stints of 3+ years. 50.6% improve at all.
Every stop on the calendar
| Years | Program | Walked into | Year 1 | Best | Vs. talent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2014 | Houston | 87.6 | 67.6 | 67.6 | — |
| 2015–2015 | Texas Tech | 4.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | ▼ 55.8 |
| 2016–2017 | Texas Tech | 0.4 | 2.7 | 48.1 | ▼ 28.0 |
| 2018–2018 | Texas Tech | 48.1 | 42.7 | 42.7 | ▼ 8.7 |
| 2021–2022 | UCF | 20.9 | 63.5 | 63.5 | ▼ 7.8 |
| 2023–2023 | UCF | 27.1 | 74.8 | 74.8 | ▲ 22.0 |
Houston 2014–2014: ranked 88th the year before he arrived, 68th at its best — went backwards.
Texas Tech 2015–2015: ranked 4th the year before he arrived, 0th at its best — went backwards.
Texas Tech 2018–2018: ranked 48th the year before he arrived, 43rd at its best — went backwards.