USC football: Marvin Sanders is no longer part of staff

Changes in USC’s defensive staff continued Thursday as Coach Lane Kiffin announced that secondary coach Marvin Sanders was no longer with the Trojans.

Sanders, who coached only one season at USC, was fired in the wake of the arrival of new defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast, who will apparently coach the secondary.

“We wish Marvin Sanders and his family the best of luck,” Kiffin said in a statement. “Marvin did a great job for us coaching our secondary and in recruiting. But with the hiring of Clancy Pendergast as our defensive coordinator, we decided to go in a different direction based on Clancy’s desire to oversee the defensive backs unit.”

Pendergast coached defensive backs as a Dallas Cowboys assistant in 2000-2002 and also when he was defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009.

Kiffin hired Pendergast last week to fill the vacancy left by Monte Kiffin, who resigned after an embarrassing 7-6 season and has since been hired as defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. Linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton is reportedly Nevada’s new defensive coordinator, though neither Nevada nor USC has confirmed the move.

More coaching staff changes are anticipated before the Trojans open spring practice.

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