Washington hires USC's Holt as defensive coordinator

SEATTLE (AP) -- The Unversity of Washington announced Monday that Nick Holt is leaving USC to become the new defensive coordinator at Washington, plucked away by new Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian, another former Trojans' assistant.

Holt replaces Ed Donatell, who was not retained after Sarkisian was hired in early December.

Holt previously was a defensive coordinator and head coach at Idaho. Aside from a 5-18 stint as head coach at Idaho in 2004-05, Holt has been on the staff at USC since 2001.

Part of the reason Holt is believed to be leaving the Trojans is a chance to run the defense himself. Despite being the defensive coordinator at USC, Holt often shared those duties with head coach Pete Carroll.

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