After much rumor and speculation, USC is indeed returning to its recent past for future defensive help. Reportedly.
While there’s nothing officially official from the football program, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport has tweeted that Clancy Pendergast has reached an agreement to become the defensive coordinator at USC. Pendergast was the Trojans’ coordinator in 2013, and was on the same staff as new head coach Clay Helton.
Pendergast has been mentioned as a potential candidate for the job for weeks, but there’s reportedly been a hangup over contractual issues -- specifically, Pendergast wanting a three-year deal while USC was only offering two years. In the interim, Pendergast was rumored to be flirting with Pac-12 rival Oregon regarding their coordinator vacancy. He was also rumored to be the front-runner for the same job at Utah a year ago before briefly heading back to the NFL.
Helton had fired the coordinator he inherited, Justin Wilcox, in early December, created the opening on his staff.
Pendergast returns to Troy after spending the 2015 season as the linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He was the coordinator at Cal in 2010-12 before his one-season stint at USC, which ended when he wasn’t retained by new head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Prior to the Golden Bears, he was an NFL assistant from 1995-2009.