Clarence Clifford Pendergast III (born November 29, 1967) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who served as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, and

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

football teams.

Early coaching career

He was a graduate assistant or assistant coach at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, and

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

before joining the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in 1995. After a year with the Oilers, he joined the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, where he spent seven seasons, first as defensive assistant/quality control/linebackers coach (1996–99), and later handing responsibilities in nickel defense packages (2000) and the secondary (2001–02). Pendergast helped develop first-round draft pick Roy Williams into a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

safety. In 2003, he was linebackers coach with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Arizona Cardinals

While working in Cleveland, Pendergast impressed personnel man Jeremy Green to the point that when Green's father,

Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 22, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006. He coa ...

, became the head coach of the

, Jeremy convinced him to interview Pendergast for the job. Green was so impressed that he hired Pendergast as the Cardinals' Defensive Coordinator. After Dennis Green's firing, he was retained as defensive coordinator under new Cardinals head coach

Ken Whisenhunt Kenneth Moore Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962) is an American football coach and former tight end. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was selected in the twelfth round of the 1985 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, with whom he pla ...

. Pendergast helped lead the Cardinals into

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, but was fired on Friday February 6, 2009, less than one week after Arizona lost to Pittsburgh 27–23 in the Super Bowl.

Kansas City Chiefs

When the Cardinals fired Pendergast, he was immediately linked with a move to

. Clancy Pendergast officially became the

for the Chiefs on March 13, 2009, where he reunited with Head Coach

Todd Haley Richard Todd Haley (born February 28, 1967) is an American football coach who most recently was head coach for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL). From 1997 to 2006, he had stints as the wide receivers coach of th ...

, who was offensive coordinator at Arizona during Pendergast's time there. On January 14, 2010, the Chiefs named former

head coach

Romeo Crennel Romeo Ashbey Crennel (born June 18, 1947) is an American former football coach. A long-time coaching assistant to Bill Parcells, Crennel served as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012, as we ...

their new

. According to NFL.com Pendergast was not retained for the 2010 season by the Chiefs in any coaching position. Pendergast was hired to become the Oakland Raiders defensive backs coach on February 6, 2010.

California Golden Bears

On February 19, 2010, Pendergast was hired as defensive coordinator for the

, succeeding Bob Gregory. Under Pendergast, the Golden Bears led the conference in total defense, pass defense and fewest first downs allowed in 2010 and 2011. Pendergast also helped produce nine NFL players, including first-round pick defensive end

Cameron Jordan Cameron Tyler Jordan (born July 10, 1989) is an American professional football defensive end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, and was selected by the ...

, and

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

Defensive Player of the Year linebacker

Mychal Kendricks Marvin Mychal-Christopher Kendricks (born September 28, 1990) is an American former professional football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the California Golden Bears, he was selected by the P ...

. He gained a reputation for containing the spread offense after his 2010 Bears slowed down

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as a college foo ...

's No. 1 ranked

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

, holding them to 40 points below their average in a 15–13 loss.

USC Trojans

Pendergast was hired by the

as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2013. Under Pendergast, USC's defense shifted from a 4–3 alignment to a 5–2 with elements of the

3–4 defense In American football, the 3–4 defense is a common defensive alignment consisting of three down Defensive lineman, linemen and four linebackers. It is called a "base defense" because it will readily switch to other defensive alignments (such as ...

. Although head coach

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC Trojans football, USC from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the National Foo ...

was fired midseason, Pendergast's defense finished the season ranked 13th in the nation and led the Pac-12. He did not return to the team in 2014, but did so in 2016 after spending 2015 as inside linebackers coach of the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. Pendergast spent four seasons in his return to the Trojans, and was fired after a 49–24 loss to

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in 2019 Holiday Bowl; in 2019, USC had the 78th-ranked defense and 77th in yardage allowed.

Personal life

The son of a farmer, Pendergast attended Tolleson High School, where his sister, Bonnie Pendergast, now teaches calculus. He graduated from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 1990, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in agriculture. Pendergast did not play football in college, but did coach his fraternity team (

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendergast, Clancy 1967 births Living people Arizona Cardinals coaches Arizona Wildcats football players California Golden Bears football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Houston Oilers coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches NFL defensive coordinators Oklahoma Sooners football coaches UAB Blazers football coaches USC Trojans football coaches San Francisco 49ers coaches Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona