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USC football: Holt leaving, meet-and-greet Tuesday
January 5th, 2009, 2:39 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer
Never mind the postponed news conference; Nick Holt is leaving USC for Washington, according to the Seattle Times.
The paper reported on its Web site that UW has confirmed the hiring and that Holt would be introduced at a news conference at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. UW also posted news of the hiring on its site.
This is a definite coup for new Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian, who failed in his initial attempt to lure Holt to be UW’s defensive coordinator.
USC coach Pete Carroll — who is heavily involved in putting together the defensive game plan — probably will hire from within to replace Holt.
Secondary coach/assistant head coach Rocky Seto is the most logical candidate, with linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. a close second.
More from the USC blog:
- USC basketball: Bring on the Bruins?
- USC football: Holt might be joining Sark
- USC football: Trojans No. 1? Not so fast
- USC football: OL recruit picks Trojans
- USC football: Did Maualuga act inappropriately?
- USC football: Recruits on display this weekend
- USC football: Rose Bowl can’t be deciding factor for Sanchez
- USC football: Carroll staying; Carl Smith coming?
Posted in: Football • Pac-10 rivals • Washington • Ken Norton Jr. • Nick Holt • Pete Carroll • Rocky Seto • Steve Sarkisian
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6 Comments
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Considering Pete does all the defensive play calling and Coach Norton and Seto were the two coaches most vital to the program, both as recruiters and as mentors to the student/athletes, losing Holt (again) is no big stretch. I am certain the program will not miss a beat. With Holt recruiting primarily in Orange County and SC’s OC recruit Matt Barkeley already in the fold, I am sure Carroll will do just fine. He always does.
Kudos to Holt for waiting till after the bowl game to announce this. I would bet this deal has been in place for a while.
If you really think about it, it makes perfect sense for Holt to leave USC for the exact same position at Washington.
As SC he has the opportunity to coach a bevy of future first rounders, year in and year out. Right now it’s the premier forum for a defensive coach in college.
But on the other hand, there’s Washington….
I’ve got nothing.
Mr. Lev:
Holt had to be talked into coming to USC by Pete Carroll. He was on his way to a NFL team when Carroll called and offered him a job on the defense. Holt insisted that he be allowed to be the Defensive Coordinator, in actuality, just not name. Carroll agreed and Holt returned to USC.
Pete Carroll still handles the defense - not Holt. Carroll will adjust at half-time and give corrections to defensive players as well. In other words, Pete Carroll did not go along with staying out of the defense. Holt then chose to go elsewhere to get the experience at the position.
Don’t believe for a second that Pete is going to stay within the team to hire Holt’s replacement. You may even see Coach “O,” or a college coach recently fired, but had coached for Pete on the Jets. That’s just FYI.
I kind of have to disagree with you there Doug. I would be suprised if Pete doesn’t promote both Norton and Seto into a co-defensive coordinator role and bring in some new younger coaching talent to groom as position guys. I think Pete is satisfied with Watson’s work with the defensive line. So look for a new linebacker and/or defensive back guy to get into the mix. Just speculating but there are a derth of devoted Trojan alumns who would love to get involved in the program (e.g. Willie McGinest, Jason Sehorn, etc.). That is just Pete’s MO, it seems. Pete is the defense ultimately.
Offense is a different story requiring top notch coordinators. Carl Smith will be a huge upgrade as the elder braintrust with Morton doing the grunt work. I think this combo will be terrific. Fight on!
Jimbo, he wants a challenge at Washington. They have the best recruits year in and year out coming out to USC and playing on Saturdays at the Coliseum.
He’s already a hot comodity at D-Co, and if he turns around the UW defense (which don’t have the best recruits playing on Saturdays at Husky Stadium) he’ll be a head coaching candidate in the near future.
He gets better pay than he does at USC, and he takes full control of the defense, opposed to just the weekly gameplan he controlled at USC.
I think it shows his pair, he is comfortable at USC, and this challenge can make or break him.