The Zeitgeist List · Coordinators · Never a head coach
Harlon Barnett.
Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 2 stints · 2 programs0 seasons ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+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.
Michigan State 2015–2017
Florida State 2018–2019
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Michigan State, 3 years
▲ 2.9
59.8 to 62.7 percentile.
Florida State, 2 years
▲ 12.3
64.2 to 76.5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2017 | Michigan State | 80.9 | 59.8 | 62.7 | ▲ 0.8 |
| 2018–2019 | Florida State | 84.2 | 64.2 | 76.5 | ▲ 3.8 |
Michigan State 2015–2017: ranked 81st the year before he arrived, 63rd at its best — went backwards.
Florida State 2018–2019: ranked 84th the year before he arrived, 77th at its best — went backwards.