The Zeitgeist List · coordinators · never a head coach
Todd Orlando.
Defensive coordinator · 13 seasons · 8 stints · 7 programs1 season ranked in the national top 10%
Own effect on the unit
Defense+0.15#119 of 458 · a typical amount
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.
Utah State 2014–2014
Houston 2015–2016
Texas 2017–2019
USC 2020–2021
Florida Atlantic 2022–2022
South Florida 2023–2025
South Alabama 2026–2026
Median of those still in the job, that year of a tenure. A shrinking pool, not a path.
Houston, 2 years
+28.1
59.0 to 87.1 percentile.
Texas, 3 years
−40.8
94.2 to 53.5 percentile.
USC, 2 years
−42.9
57.1 to 14.2 percentile.
South Florida, 3 years
+8.0
71.1 to 79.0 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2014 | Utah State | no record | 89.5 | 89.5 | — |
| 2015–2016 | Houston | 67.6 | 59.0 | 87.1 | +21.8 |
| 2017–2018 | Texas | 55.1 | 94.2 | 94.2 | +7.5 |
| 2019–2019 | Texas | 49.6 | 53.5 | 53.5 | −13.4 |
| 2020–2021 | USC | 18.1 | 57.1 | 57.1 | −29.2 |
| 2022–2022 | Florida Atlantic | 58.8 | 49.2 | 49.2 | +0.1 |
| 2023–2025 | South Florida | 1.1 | 71.1 | 79.0 | +20.9 |
| 2026–2026 | South Alabama | 24.6 | 19.9 | 19.9 | — |
No prior-season record for the first stop (Utah State, 2014) — the data floor starts there.
Florida Atlantic 2022–2022: ranked 59th the year before he arrived, 49th at its best — went backwards.
South Alabama 2026–2026: ranked 25th the year before he arrived, 20th at its best — went backwards.