Nick Holt, coordinator of USC's dominating defense, has agreed to become defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at the University of Washington. (Here's my story from the Tuesday paper.)

A press conference to introduce Holt was delayed from Monday until 12:30 p.m. Tuesday for undisclosed reasons, but the university has confirmed the hire.

Holt, 46, had been the Trojans' defensive line coach and defensive coordinator from 2006 through their just-completed 2009 Rose Bowl victory.

The 2008 Trojans completed the regular season as the nation's No. 1 defense, leading the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense (206.08 yards per game), scoring defense (7.75 points per game), pass defense (122.83) and pass efficiency defense (81.46). USC was also No. 5 in rushing defense (83.25 yards per game). The '08 Trojans posted three shutouts -- including one against Washington -- and held eight of 12 regular-season opponents to seven or fewer points.

Holt also had also served as USC's linebackers coach from 2001 to 2003. In between, during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, he was head coach at Idaho, where he'd previously worked a defensive coordinator.

"This is very exciting for Husky football," new UW head coach Steve Sarkisian said in a news release. "I don't think we could have found a more qualified or successful defensive coordinator anywhere in the country."

"Coach Sarkisian has been working tirelessly to recruit and to hire coaches," UW athletic director Scott Woodward said in the same news release. "This hire is a clear reinforcement of the confidence I have in him to put together a top-notch coaching staff."

The entire release is available at GoHuskies.com. Here's Holt's biography from USC.

The University of Washington is holding a press conference Tuesday to introduce its new defensive coordinator: former USC defensive coordinator and Idaho head coach Nick Holt.

That means we'll have to wait a few more hours to hear from Holt about accepting this job. However, shortly after UW announced it was firing Tyrone Willingham, I interviewed Holt in Los Angeles ... talking to him mostly about UW's head job. However, some of his answers from back them might give some indication of why he might be interested in joining Steve Sarkisian up here... especially the final answer.

TNT: How good is this USC defense?
Holt: "Ask me in December, because we’ve still got four or five games left. But up till now it sure has played really solid. I think that if we continue to improve – and there are things we can improve – it can be as good as we’ve had here in our eight years. We’re really pleased with the effort, we’re staying relatively health, which is huge … but I think we have a good attitude, we have a lot of guys who can run to the ball, a lot of guys now are believing really in their techniques – they always have but now it’s even more. And I think our secondary is really good also."

TNT: How good are the Huskies?
Holt: "Quite honestly – this isn’t just coach-speak – every Pac-10 team plays us pretty good. So we’ve got to come every week. You just look at the last two (UW-USC games), it’s come down to the last couple of plays of the game. We don’t take them lightly. We know their coaches – they’re very well coaches, quite honestly. And they’ve had a lot of injuries, and hopefully they don’t get it going against us."

TNT: Would you be interested in the UW job?
Holt: "I don’t think about that. To us down here and to people who know the Pac-10 that is just an awesome job. Whatever happens, they’re going to be good up there. Had they probably stayed with the guys they have now (the Willingham staff)they’d end up being good. They’ve got some good young kids. They had some holes to fill recruiting. Hopefully they don’t catch up; but that is, as you know one of the premier places we think down here in the country. It’s just a matter of time."

Holt, by the way, is a hyper-high-energy guy who looks and acts like a defensive coordinator straight out of central casting. I have a hunch UW fans are going to love this hire.

USC defensive coordinator Nick Holt is reported in Seattle today to discuss the Huskies defensive coordinator position, and now a 3 p.m. press conference has been called amid speculation he will get the job.

New UW head coach Steve Sarkisian confirmed his interest in Holt to the Los Angeles media over the weekend.

If Holt joins Sarkisian, that would put the offensive and defensive coordinators from the 2008 Trojans on the UW sidelines in 2009.

Holt coordinated what is generally thought to be one of the great defenses in college football history. He also has a bit of a Northwest connection, having served as head coach at Idaho in 2004-05 and serving on the Vandals staff from 1990-97.

With only one weekend of Pac-10 play behind us, only Washington, UCLA and Cal remain unbeaten. It could be a fascinating league race this year, and road wins -- as the Huskies' pulled off in Pullman -- could be precious and rare.

That number of unbeatens is sure to drop in the coming week, as UW and 2-0 Cal meet Saturday at Hec Ed. Before then, the Huskies meet that other surprisingly impressive Bay Area team -- Stanford -- on Thursday.

Here's a look at the first weekend of the Pac-10 race.