Tag: Eric Henderson

Eric Henderson says leaving Rams for USC job ‘was a no-brainer’

Eric Henderson wanted to challenge himself and leaving the Rams to become USC’s co-defensive coordinator was one way to do that

Eric Henderson joined the Rams as their defensive line coach in 2019 and immediately became a beloved member of Sean McVay’s coaching staff. Shortly after the Rams’ season ended with their loss to the Lions, Henderson was hired by USC as their co-defensive coordinator.

It was a shocking loss for the Rams, who had one of the best defensive lines in football under Henderson’s guidance over the last five years. With Raheem Morris being viewed as a head coaching candidate, some even saw Henderson as a potential replacement as the Rams’ defensive coordinator.

On Thursday, Henderson spoke with members of the media and said joining USC’s staff was “a no-brainer” for him, seeking the next challenge in his career.

“It just made sense, he said.

Even though he’s no longer on the Rams’ coaching staff, Henderson remains a big backer of Kobie Turner – the team’s stud third-round defensive tackle who led all rookies with nine sacks in 2023.

Henderson told reporters that Turner “should have won Defensive Rookie of the Year,” a case he made throughout the season.

USC target Jared Smith was blown away by new Trojan assistant coach Eric Henderson

Eric Henderson is already making a strong first impression on recruits.

The impact of new USC defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator Eric Henderson is only beginning to be seen and felt. Inside and outside the program, it is already apparent that Henderson is a very impressive figure who commands respect and is earning admiration.

Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports notes that one USC recruiting target and his family were quite impressed by what they saw and heard at USC, with Henderson leading the way.

“247Sports’ No. 1 edge rusher Jared Smith visited USC this weekend. The Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson blue-chipper made the trek out West with his mother and aunt. The three of them loved the experience and Smith said he’ll definitely be back.”

It’s impossible to ignore: Eric Henderson coached Aaron Donald with the Los Angeles Rams. He developed other less heraled Ram linemen into strong and productive pass rushers. Henderson has credentials and stories to share on the recruiting trail which will create a strongly positive impression. USC has an assistant coach who is in position to make a huge difference in recruiting.

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USC flips blue-chip 2024 defensive line commit on eve of national signing day

USC beats out Utah for a defensive lineman who decommitted from Washington.

On Tuesday, Ratumana Bulabalavu took to social media to announce his commitment to play football at USC. Defensive line coaches Shaun Nua and Eric Henderson closed in on the Carlsbad, California, four-star lineman after he decommitted from the University of Washington on January 24.

USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has made it no secret that he values versatile linemen who can allow the defense to have multiple fronts without the need to substitute. Bulabalavu is big and athletic. He’s currently listed at 6-4 and 260 pounds, but he has the frame to add significant weight and become an even bigger force.

The multi-sport standout at Army and Navy Academy also starred in rugby and on the track team, where he competed in the discus, shot put, triple jump, and the 110-meter hurdles.  His size, strength and athleticism will allow him to play multiple positions on the line when he has a year or two in a collegiate strength and conditioning program.

In an interview with 247Sports, Bulabalavu shared his thoughts behind his decision:

“I like the scheme fit as well,” he said. “They see me as a combo, outside/inside player. They want a dynamic defensive line that is both athletic but also very heavy up front to compete in the Big Ten, so I’ll move around from tackle to edge.”

Explaining his choice for the Trojans over the Utah Utes, Bulabalavu highlighted the coaching staff’s potential. He added, “I’m completely bought in to being a part of the first class they develop and cultivate into an NFL talent.”

Bulabalavu becomes the sixth player added to the Trojans’ defensive line in the offseason, one more example of Lincoln Riley’s pledge to prioritize the defense. USC currently has the No. 17 recruiting class in the country, and Jadyn Walker is expected to flip his commitment from Michigan State to USC on national signing day.

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D’Anton Lynn, Eric Henderson will bring a holistic approach to USC defense

D’Anton Lynn and Eric Henderson can solve problems at all levels of the USC defense.

D’Anton Lynn played as a defensive back at Penn State and in the pro ranks. Eric Henderson has been a defensive line developer. As the two men prepare to be co-defensive coordinators at USC, how are they going to work together, and how will they approach handling the Trojans’ defense in the Big Ten?

Luca Evans of the Orange County Register tried to explore these questions in a story which involved insights from former coaching colleagues of the two men:

“It’s a natural pairing: Lynn the analyst, Henderson the motivator. And both were prepared for this, too, by those shared meeting rooms back in 2017, where Bradley would mandate his entire defensive staff game-planned together – no separation between the front and secondary. Henderson is more than a defensive-line coach, Bradley said; he understands the back end. And Lynn, who has specialized in coaching secondaries throughout his NFL tenure before his year at UCLA, has come into USC with a clear vision for molding the Trojans up front.

“’I think they’re very much on the same page with that,’ Giff Smith said. ‘I mean, D’Anton did a great job with the outside edge rushers at UCLA and creating pressure on the quarterback, and being creative on his different simulated pressures that he brought, and Eric did that under Raheem (Morris) a bunch too. So I just really think it’s an easy fit.’”

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Former colleagues rave about Eric Henderson’s player development skills

Eric Henderson doesn’t just develop the star players; he develops the project-type players as well.

How good is Eric Henderson as a player developer? USC fans are going to love what a former coaching colleague said about Henderson in a story from Luca Evans of the Orange County Register.

It’s not just Aaron Donald with the Rams. Years earlier, Henderson was developing unheralded players on the 2017 Los Angeles Chargers:

“Henderson’s coaching timeline, too, sped up in just his first year of coaching at the NFL level. Before long, Giff Smith attested, he’d entrust Henderson to put together play-tape for technique sessions – sitting down with the likes of Pro Bowler Joey Bosa as a rookie NFL coach to critique his film. Normally, Bradley said, position coaches don’t split up any group responsibility with assistants; but Smith challenged Henderson to mold rookies and lower-level draft picks like Isaac Rochell, a seventh-round pick in 2017. Within one year, Henderson turned Rochell into a five-sack presence in his sophomore season.

“’What he has,’ Smith said of Henderson, ‘is the unique ability to tap the inner part of a guy to make him work harder than he ever thought he could. And that’s a gift that only a few coaches have.’”

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There’s a ‘natural connection’ between USC colleagues D’Anton Lynn and Eric Henderson

Former colleagues see plenty of compatibility between D’Anton Lynn and Eric Henderson as they arrive at USC.

Eric Henderson and D’Anton Lynn are on the same defensive coaching staff at USC. How are they expected to work together? Luca Evans of the Orange County Register asked former colleagues of both men from the 2017 Los Angeles Charger coaching staff.

“Anthony Lynn knew D’Anton and Henderson were more than coworkers, he said, when his son invited Henderson to his wedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

“Still, it didn’t seem as though the young Lynn and Henderson were exactly the best of friends. They had separate, specific focuses on that staff: Henderson working on the defensive line under (Giff) Smith, Lynn working more closely with linebackers coach Richard Smith (now working under Bradley with the Colts) as a quality control assistant. They were more close colleagues, perhaps, with a deep respect.

“’You could just tell, there’s a natural connection and a natural trust between the two,’ Giff Smith said. ‘And you always felt like they would wind up on a staff together some way. I’m not claiming I would say I knew they were gonna be co-defensive coordinators together at USC, but I think we always thought they would be on a staff.’”

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NFL defensive coordinator thinks D’Anton Lynn, Eric Henderson will work well together at USC

Eric Henderson and D’Anton Lynn worked together on the 2017 Chargers’ coaching staff. The reviews are positive.

Did you know that USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and new Trojan defensive line coach Eric Henderson worked on the same coaching staff before?

Luca Evans of the Orange County Register talked to other members of the 2017 Los Angeles Charger coaching staff, which Lynn and Henderson were both part of. Anthony Lynn, D’Anton’s father, was the head coach.

Gus Bradley, now the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, was the defensive coordinator for that Charger team.

Evans explained the nature of the relationship between D’Anton Lynn and Eric Henderson, with Bradley offering his endorsement of this pairing at USC:

“The Southern California News Group spoke with members of the 2017 Chargers’ staff – the lone year in which the two overlapped – for a picture of how Lynn and Henderson will work in tandem at USC. All remember the two as bright, inventive minds who routinely were trusted with more responsibility than their job titles entailed. And the key point: their philosophies and coaching strengths have always been complementing, not contrasting, two men with strong personalities who will challenge each other but do so without job-title conceit.

“’There is no ego with Eric Henderson,’ Bradley, now the Colts’ defensive coordinator, told the SCNG. ‘And there’s no ego with D’Anton Lynn. So will it work? There’s not a doubt in my mind it will work.’”

USC fans couldn’t ask for a better evaluation of these two new defensive coaches.

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New USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson visits Georgia commit Justus Terry

Eric Henderson is hitting the trail and trying to flip a Georgia commit.

The USC Trojans know they need high-impact defensive linemen. The pathway to collecting more victories on the recruiting trail involves having a defensive line coach who commands great respect, and who knows how to develop NFL-quality players. USC’s Lincoln Riley hired Eric Henderson away from the Los Angeles Rams to become the Trojans’ defensive line coach. Henderson can tell recruits, “Hi, I coached Aaron Donald and the other beasts on the Rams’ sack-happy defensive line!” It’s as good a sales pitch as anyone can hope for.

Henderson is getting to work visiting prime defensive line prospects on the recruiting trail, even those who have committed to other schools. He recently visited University of Georgia commit Justus Terry, a five-star 2025 defensive line prospect. Riley’s USC program has made no secret of its desire to extensively recruit the South and get in on recruitments of elite players from Georgia and Florida in particular.

Regardless of whether the Trojans flip Terry, they’re going to take big swings in the South. They might strike out several times, but if they go 1 for 4 with a home run, that’s one home-run recruit they add to their roster. Eric Henderson is taking big cuts at the plate. Hopefully he’ll hit a 450-foot moonshot before too long.

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Super Bowl champion D’Marco Farr praises new USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson

D’Marco Farr won Super Bowl XXXIV on the 1999 Rams. He loves what Eric Henderson did with recent Ram pass rushers.

This is a big deal. When a Super Bowl champion — someone who spent several years in the NFL and was a good player in the league — praises a position coach at a college program, he must see something special in that coach.

Former St. Louis Ram D’Marco Farr — who won a Super Bowl championship with the 1999 Rams and made a Pro Bowl roster in a solid NFL career — poured lavish praise on new USC defensive line coach Eric Henderson the other day.

Farr obviously saw Eric Henderson’s work with the Rams franchise in recent years. Aaron Donald gets the headlines, but Henderson developed other pass rushers in Los Angeles and developed a lot of different sack machines for the organization. Farr is keeping tabs, and he gave USC football the best possible recruiting pitch one could ever hope for. It’s exactly what Lincoln Riley and D’Anton Lynn were looking for in a new addition to their staff at USC:

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Trojans Wire takes your calls and questions on the latest Conquest Call-In Show

USC’s elite defensive coaching staff was one of many topics we tackled on our Friday night call-in show.

Trojans Wire is pleased to work with The Voice of College Football, where our USC YouTube channel presents two shows each week. One is our Monday night show with Mark Rogers. The other is our Friday call-in series, the Conquest Call-In Show. Trojans Wire editor Matt Zemek regularly appears on these shows. I created the Conquest Call-In Show, the first of its kind and the place where you, the viewer, are the star of the show. We want to take your calls and let you have your say. Every Friday night at 6 p.m. Pacific time, 9 p.m. Eastern time, you get your chance to weigh in on USC football.

On our most recent edition of the Conquest Call-In Show from this past Friday, we talked about USC’s NIL situation relative to what’s happening at Ohio State and elsewhere. We discussed Eric Henderson and the start of his tenure as the Trojans’ new defensive line coach. We looked at a bunch of different topics. It’s the place where USC fans can discuss their Trojans every Friday night.

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