HAPPY TO BE HOME
Oklahoma State called Josh Henson with an offer he could not turn down
STILLWATER — Josh Henson’s coaching career has been on a steady incline since former Oklahoma State coach Bob Simmons brought him on as a graduate assistant coach in 1999.
But 1998 was a different story.
Fresh off his playing career at OSU, Henson and his wife, Shauna, arrived in Kingfisher for their new teaching jobs with about $150 to their name and their first paychecks a month away.
“We went over to the grocery store and looked for whatever they had on sale,” Henson said. “The cheapest thing they had was cans of ranch-style beans for like 49 cents a can.
“We bought a bunch of loaves of real cheap white bread and that’s what we ate. I don’t think I’ve eaten ranch-style beans since then, I was so tired of them.”
Now the Cowboys’ offensive line coach, Henson’s career has been mostly a smooth ride — even that year in Kingfisher where he helped the Yellowjackets to a semifinal appearance.
In 2001, he was about to take a job at a high school in Texas when Les Miles — Henson’s position coach when he played, and the Cowboys’ new head man — offered him a spot as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.
Four years at OSU, then four at LSU were followed by seven years at Missouri. But after Gary Pinkel retired, Henson’s career was in limbo again.
He returned home in an off-field position as an analyst for the Cowboys for one season, then was hired to coach the offensive line at Arizona State.
It was a job he would ultimately hold for a little more than a month, and though it wasn’t as rough as that month of white bread and beans in Kingfisher, it wasn’t easy.
Henson was hired in mid-January, just a couple weeks before National Signing Day, so he immediately hit the recruiting trail. From the moment he was hired, he only returned home once to gather some extra clothes.
But by Feb. 10, Mike Gundy had offered his offensive line coaching job — and it was an easy decision.
“You only get so many chances in this business to coach at home,” he said. “One of the big things here was Coach Gundy’s stability and the program’s stability.
“I thought if I could last five or six years at Oklahoma State, my two children would have only gone to school in Columbia, Missouri, and Stillwater. In this business, that’s a blessing. That was probably bigger than anything else fans might think.”
As happy as Henson is to be home, the Cowboys are happy to have him.
“He’s been a coordinator before, and I feel that’s very helpful to have a guy that has sat in your seat before,” OSU offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich said. “There’s a lot of help with that type of knowledge and experience.
“He’s a great person, great family man. He knows Oklahoma State. We wanted the best guy for the job, and we’re fortunate that we got him.”