LOS ANGELES — Nick Holt says, yes, he wants to be a head coach again someday.

Why that day is not "today" is not particularly clear.

As college football devolves into a sprint-relay race, with quarterbacks throwing to any of five receivers against 11 defenders who are allergic to contact, Holt carries the torch for defense at USC.

His guys tackle on Saturday. That's because they also tackle on all other days ending in "y."

"It gets a little boring some days because we're doing the same drills, and he's saying the same things," linebacker Clay Matthews said. "Square your shoulders. Wrap up. Drive. We do it every day.

And rightfully so. It makes a difference when we play."

"You better tackle every day if you want to be successful," said Holt, whose conversational style can only be described as hydroelectric. "I have to make sure I bring the same intensity to practice every day. If I'm dragging on a certain day, I have to tell myself, 'Hey, let's go, the guys out there are counting on me.'

"Do the guys moan about it? It doesn't matter. We're going to do it. I firmly believe that fundamentals are the reason we've done what we've done."

What they have done on defense, considering the times in which they have done it, is fairly startling.

In a year when 10 major college teams averaged more than 300 yards passing, no one passed for more than 179 yards on the Trojans. Only Stanford managed an 80-yard touchdown drive. Just 15 times did USC allow a drive of 50 yards or more.

Just three opponents averaged more than 4 yards per play.

And USC's average of 7.8 points allowed is the best by anybody in 20 years (Auburn, 1988).

Holt's defense led the country in total defense, pass defense, scoring defense and pass efficiency defense.

But you don't see Holt interviewing for jobs, even though he was Idaho's coach for two years. He was 5-18 there, but Gene Chizik won five games in two years at Iowa State and used that as a springboard for the Auburn job.

One reason is that USC's defense is so closely identified with Coach Pete Carroll, who was the de facto coordinator until Holt came from Idaho in 2006. The theories might still be Carroll's, but the lead voice at Howard Jones Field is Holt's.

"Our philosophy is built on not letting anybody behind you," Holt said. "You're disciplined, and you don't miss tackles. And then you pressure the quarterback and force turnovers."

Sounds easy if you have 15 guys — or if your 11 consist of Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga, Fili Moala, Taylor Mays ...

It should be noted that USC didn't face full-blown spreads on its schedule, Penn State, in the Rose Bowl, is a different deal.

Still, no one has yet devised a system that exempts an offense from blocking. And no one has yet blocked USC.

Holt readily admits he's a creature of networking, like all coaches. He was a linebacker at Pacific, and his position coach was Carroll, a UOP grad himself.

Wayne Nunnely was also on the UOP staff. When he became the coach at UNLV, he hired Holt as a grad assistant, and Holt spent three years there and then eight at Idaho, as an assistant.

While he was there he got married to the women's basketball coach. Julie Holt was already the winningest coach at Gonzaga when she got to Idaho.

"She was very big there," Holt said. "It's been good because we can relate to things, how to handle situations. I've learned a lot from her."

When John L. Smith took the head coaching job at Louisville and brought Nick along, Julie suspended her career, after lots of family reassessing.

Holt was there for three years. Carroll brought him to USC in 2001 for three more years, but then

Idaho called.

"You don't get to be a head coach that often," Holt said. "We didn't have enough money to really get the academic program right. Our recruiting budget wasn't always competitive. Yeah, I had to devote a lot of time to stuff like that. Still, it was a great experience."

Holt returned to USC. Julie, who coached at L.A. Harbor College the first time they were here, now runs AAU teams.

"He's the same every day, and we mimic a lot of his sayings," Matthews said. "But, off the field, he's having several guys over to their house for Christmas. He cares about us."

Holt is a Type AAAA guy, not really prone to ambivalence or equivocation. In five seconds you would guess he's a football coach if you knew nothing else about him.

You just don't know why Holt isn't a head football coach. The Rose Bowl could be one more brick in the resume.