The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Nick Benedetto.
Defensive coordinator · 5 seasons · 3 stints · 2 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.51#10 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.
Northern Illinois 2022–2024
Fresno State 2025–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Northern Illinois, 3 years
+73.5
14.9 to 88.4 percentile.
Fresno State, 2 years
−57.1
91.5 to 34.4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–2023 | Northern Illinois | 9.6 | 14.9 | 57.5 | −2.4 |
| 2024–2024 | Northern Illinois | 57.5 | 88.4 | 88.4 | +52.8 |
| 2025–2026 | Fresno State | 81.7 | 91.5 | 91.5 | +46.0 |