Tag: Eric Henderson

USC, Eric Henderson get another big defensive line transfer

Eric Henderson. Click, clack. That’s it. That’s all we need to say right now at USC. The Dawgwork continues.

For the second time in three days, USC football and Eric Henderson have landed a huge transfer portal addition along the defensive line. On Saturday morning, USC landed a commitment from transfer defensive lineman Jamaal Jarrett. Jarrett comes to USC from Georgia, where he spent the past two seasons. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Jarrett spent his two seasons with the Bulldogs primarily in a reserve role. At Georgia, he recorded just nine tackles, with no sacks or turnovers forced.

At 6’5” and 350 pounds, however, Jarrett’s potential is clearly there. Now, it will be up to USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson and company to realize it.

Jarrett is USC’s second defensive line addition from an SEC school in the past three days. On Thursday, the Trojans added Keeshawn Silver, formerly of Kentucky.

USC fans will certainly hope that Jarrett will pan out better than the last defensive lineman that the Trojans brought in from Georgia.

USC fans will be watching the state of Kentucky in 2025

Sam Greene is at Kentucky. Miller Moss is at Louisville. USC fans will be watching the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the 2025 season.

Less than two weeks after entering the transfer portal, former USC defensive lineman Sam Greene has a new home. Greene recently announced his commitment to Kentucky. He will have three seasons of eligibility remaining with the Wildcats.

Greene originally signed with USC as a highly-touted recruit in the class of 2023. After redshirting his first season on campus, he earned a reserve role this season, recording 15 tackles and one sack. Now, he will look for a fresh start in Lexington.

In a weird twist, Greene was essentially part of a “trade” between the Trojans and the Wildcats. On Thursday, USC landed a commitment from former Kentucky defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver. Hence, the two teams essentially swapped defensive linemen.

While Silver is a veteran player with proven production at the college level, Greene is younger and has more eligibility left. Hence, both teams can feel reasonably good about how the “deal” turned out.

Greene’s transfer to Kentucky has been accompanied by Miller Moss transferring to Louisville. USC football fans will be watching both Kentucky and Louisville to see how key 2024 players fare in the commonwealth in 2025. There will be a Bluegrass storyline for USC fans to follow next year.

USC lands commitment from coveted defensive line transfer

Eric Henderson continues to beef up the USC defensive line with the pickup of an elite transfer from Kentucky. Dawgwork is getting done.

They say that the transfer portal given and the transfer portal taketh. For USC, that has been especially the case over the past few weeks. After losing numerous key players to the portal, the Trojans picked up arguably their biggest addition yet Thursday morning when they landed former Kentucky defensive lineman Keshawn Silver.

After starting his college career at North Carolina, Silver spent the past two seasons at Kentucky. As a redshirt junior in 2024, he recorded 46 tackles and a sack. Now, he will head to Los Angeles for his final season of eligibility.

Silver was one of the highest-rated defensive lineman in the transfer portal. His addition is a huge one for a USC team in desperate need of momentum after a week full of departures.

With current starters Nate Clifton, Gavin Meyer, and Jamil Muhammad all out of eligibility, USC is in major need of reinforcements along the defensive line heading into next season. There is still work to be done, but the addition of Silver will go a long way toward addressing that issue.

USC makes top four for coveted defensive lineman in transfer portal

USC has so many needs to address in the portal. There’s a beefy, powerful defensive lineman who is considering the Trojans.

As they say, the transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh. With USC football set to lose a significant batch of talent in the transfer portal, the Trojans will have to counter that by bringing in talent from other schools.

Earlier this week, USC took a first step toward rebuilding its roster when the Trojans made the top four for highly-touted defensive line transfer Keeshawn Silver.

After starting his college career out at North Carolina, Silver spent the past two seasons at Kentucky. He had the best year of his career in 2024, recording 14 tackles and one sack.

In addition to USC, Silver’s top four consisted of Florida, Michigan, and Miami.

On3 ranks Silver as a top-30 available player in the portal. He will have one year of eligibility remaining at his new school.

The Trojans are set to lose starting defensive linemen Jamil Muhammad, Nate Clifton, and Gavin Meyer, all of whom are out of eligibility. Given the importance of being strong along line of scrimmage in order to compete in the Big Ten, it will be crucial that the Trojans address their need at the position this offseason.

USC lands commitment from three-star defensive lineman

USC grabbed a three-star defensive lineman on Sunday, providing much-needed depth for a group which needs a lot of bodies in 2025.

It was a very busy day for USC football recruiting. On Sunday, USC landed a commitment from class of 2025 three-star defensive lineman Cash Jacobsen.

“Dedication & hard work make dreams come true. I am 100% committed to the University of Southern California,” Jacobsen said in a post on social media.

Jacobsen comes to USC from Jenks, Oklahoma. Per 247Sports, he is the number 1358 overall player in the class of 2025, the number 149 defensive lineman, and the number 25 player in the state of Oklahoma.

The Jacobsen commitment followed two huge recruiting stories for USC football on Sunday. The Trojans lost the commitment of quarterback Julian Lewis but were able to quickly regroup by gaining the commitment of quarterback Husan Longstreet, who flipped from Texas A&M. The Trojans and Lincoln Riley managed to have a plan in place for a Julian Lewis change of heart, and it’s very important that they did.

USC currently holds the No. 13 recruiting class in the country for the 2024-2025 cycle, per 247’s rankings. Three Big Ten teams currently sit ahead of the Trojans: Ohio State at No. 1, Oregon at No. 6, and Michigan at No. 11.

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Trojans Wire talks about commitment from elite 2026 Georgia linebacker

Let’s talk more about Xavier Griffin.

It has not been a boring week for USC football, that’s for sure. We have seen the Trojans flip a prospect from Georgia and lose a prospect who was flipped by Georgia. We have seen some commitments. We have seen a JUCO offensive lineman sign with USC. We have seen a lot. USC is just about to begin preseason camp, and the offseason is about to recede into the past in a very real way. We’re about to talk about on-field football developments for each of the next five months. It really is that time of year; we made it. Xavier Griffin has also made it to USC.

At 1:24 of our recent show at The Voice of College Football, Trojans Wire discusses concerns and impact that surround the new commitment from Georgia, Xavier Griffin. We discuss the coach Henny (Eric Henderson) effect and the impact of D’Anton Lynn’s defense on the field for current and future USC football recruits.

https://www.youtube.com/live/ec1FoKT_GXo?si=T1uoNtEb-p02ylsz&t=102

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USC defensive line has a chance to show the full measure of its quality

2023 injuries and coaching changes could lead to a better-than-expected 2024 for the USC defensive line.

College football analyst and magazine publisher Phil Steele has rated the USC defensive line No. 46 in the country heading into the 2024 season. Bear Alexander is back for his third year of college football, his second with the Trojans and his first with new defensive line coach Eric Henderson. Former five-star prospect Anthony Lucas received praise from defensive ends coach Shaun Nua as being the most versatile player on the line, and he should shine both on the interior and exterior of the line. Can Lucas reach his potential with some “Dawgwork”? On the outside, Jamil Muhammad started the 2023 season hot, but his production tailed off toward the end of the year, which led to speculation that injuries might have caught up with him. However, with the increased depth this season, the load will be lighter and he should thrive.

Last year, 6-5, 250-pound Braylan Shelby flashed his elite combination of size and quickness. This year Kameryn Fountain, a 6-6, 256-pound freshman from Mobile, Alabama, was lured away from Alabama and Georgia to play at USC. He is young, but he has shown that he has a high ceiling.

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Pundits are not optimistic about 2024 USC defense even with new staff

USC might not have the depth it needs on defense, but its frontline quality seems to be good.

This is a recurring theme in the world of college football commentary and analysis in the 2024 offseason: Everyone knows that USC and Lincoln Riley overhauled their defensive coaching staff. Everyone knows Alex Grinch won’t coach these players in 2024. Everyone knows there will be different voices in the room. Everyone knows D’Anton Lynn did a tremendous job of whipping a previously mediocre UCLA defense into shape in one year last season. Everyone knows USC has defensive coaches who are highly credentialed. Yet, it still isn’t translating into high ratings and strongly positive evaluations of the 2024 USC defense.

To be fair to the pundits, USC does have questions about its depth. The Trojans have not accumulated the number of quality players which can withstand attrition if it hits hard this year. The Big Ten figures to be physically punishing in such a way that USC’s depth probably will be tested at some point. However, USC’s starting 11 on defense might be underrated. The Trojans’ frontline talent might be getting underestimated a little by analysts such as Phil Steele. We talked about this on The Voice of College Football:

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USC’s Eric Henderson describes ‘dawgwork’ and how he can use it

Coach Henny explains ‘dawgwork’ in deeper detail.

In the offseason, USC lured defensive line coach Eric Henderson, the dean of dawgwork, away from his successful run with the Los Angeles Rams. Henderson coached 14-year NFL veteran Michael Brockers, who played two years for the Rams with Henderson as his defensive line coach.

Brockers interviewed “Coach Henny” for his YouTube podcast, TheBrockcast, this week.  During the interview at 19:11 Henderson explained the “Dawg” that he’s looking to sign for his defensive line room at USC.

“A dawg, straight up. You know sometimes guys don’t always have elite measurables, or be the tallest guy, the biggest guy, the strongest guy … but when you got something in your chest that pumpin’ louder than everybody else, I’m rocking with that. Because I trust my ability as a coach to get you better. There is no one better in the game that has been there to help you to reach that level of competitiveness, when you talk about defensive line play, then I think I am. I know I can help anybody; I help everybody get better. That’s just the way I feel. That may be an issue, but at the end of the day I feel that way.”

It may frustrate Trojan fans, but Henderson is not chasing star rankings on recruiting services; he’s looking for “dawgs” with the heart and drive to play for him at USC and develop for the NFL. His work with five-star players Anthony Lucas and Bear Alexander will be just as important as the development of Kobe Pepe, Gavin Meyer and young guys such as true freshmen Jide Abisiri and Carlon Jones. He will try to take Nate Clifton’s game to the next level with “dawgwork.”

Young stars of the future, those thinking about committing and even those who have decommitted recently, will be closely watching the defensive development along the line for improvement.  Will Henderson have his guys focused on base fundamentals and playing sound defense in new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s defense in year one?

Henderson’s confidence is infectious the same ability he used to bring out the “DAWG” in his players was good enough to produce a Super Bowl winning defensive line and by polishing veterans and developing rookies in the NFL.

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The difference between Eric Henderson and Josh Henson at USC

Eric Henderson and Josh Henson are viewed in fundamentally different ways at USC.

The USC Trojans have two position coaches who are both hugely important for USC football in 2024. One of them is Eric Henderson on the defensive line. One is Josh Henson on the offensive line. Naturally, line play is the central key for USC in its 2024 season, so in that sense, Henderson and Henson are in the same boat. Yet, a fuller look at these coaches unearths a fundamental difference between them.

Eric Henderson is the hope of this coaching staff. The hope at USC is that if Henderson is as great as advertised, USC can take less-than-spectacular talent and turn it into a top-tier defensive line unit in the course of the 2024 season. Henderson is the coach who has the most upside because of his credentials as he enters his job.

Josh Henson is the concern of this coaching staff at USC. After a difficult 2023 season, Henson has a lot to prove heading into 2024. There are recruiting concerns attached to Henson which don’t exist with Henderson. Part of that is simply a product of longevity. Henson is entering his third year on staff while Henderson is new. However, Henson’s need to coach up players is heightened by his lack of five-star splash hits on the trail. If he recruited better, his player development performance wouldn’t be as much of a question mark.

Henderson and Henson are linked in that they’re the two most important position coaches on the roster, but the ways in which that shared importance emerges are substantially different. This is how Eric Henderson and Josh Henson are entering the 2024 USC season from fundamentally different vantage points.

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