ESPN.com - Pendergast's vision for USC's 'D'

ESPN.com: Insider Rumors

Friday, February 15, 2013
Pendergast's vision for USC's 'D'

By Brent Sobleski

Clancy Pendergast was anointed the savior of USC's defense after coordinator Monte Kiffin decided to step down from his position and return to the NFL. Pendergast will bring a new scheme to try and improve last year's effort, but it won't be a true 3-4 defense.

"(USC will be) playing in a package 'that's flexible enough to fit' the challenge of all four of the basic looks a defense will face from the versatile Pac-12 offenses: 'Pro-style, the spread with the quarterback running, the spread without the quarterback running' and then a catch-all group represented by 'the pistol,'" Pendergast told Dan Weber of USCFootball.com.
"What are we going to call it? I'm going to call it the 52."

Pendergast's defense at Cal was actually ranked 33 spots lower than USC's last season against the same Pac-12 competition. Pendergast will have one job -- to improve what was seen from last year's Trojan defense. Despite the aforementioned discrepancy, Pendergast is generally believed to be capable of doing so:

Garry Paskwietz

Pendergast is a good hire for USC

"Pendergast runs a vastly different system to the one Kiffin used, and the football people I’ve talked with seem to think it will prove to be a very good hire. There is a lot of respect out there for Pendergast and his background of aggressive, multiple defenses. He also has a nice working knowledge of the Pac-12. Not sure how much of a recruiter he is, but he doesn’t need to be the one who hits the bricks; he just needs to be able to help close. "