Will ASU defense change under new coordinator?
Donnie Henderson admits he thought he’d be sitting on a beach somewhere, perhaps sipping on a tropical drink. At 64, he’s closer to the end of his career than the start.
Instead, he’s doing what he’s done for his entire life — preparing a football team for future battles.
Henderson was a consultant in the Arizona State football program, aiding the defense, which has always been his specialty. Last season he was called on to coach the defensive backs after Chris Hawkins was put on administrative leave for his connection to recruiting violations that have resulted in an NCAA investigation.
Henderson’s role has become bigger yet again. Now, he’s serving as defensive coordinator after the departure of Antonio Pierce, who had worked under coach Herm Edwards since his arrival, the last two years as defensive coordinator.
Henderson, who has a longtime association with both Edwards and his consultant Marvin Lewis, said he opted to take on a more demanding role to lend some stability to the program that lost a total of five coaches who resigned or were fired since the end of the season.
“The biggest factor for me, I wanted to keep continuity with the team,” Henderson said after the Sun Devils wrapped up practice Saturday. “I felt if I stayed in that position when it was offered to me I could keep the continuity. We could keep the same verbiage, We could use the same terminology and if we’d have brought someone else in, and Herm could have done that if he wanted to, it would have changed the whole continuity thing, I really believe that. With my experience, this isn’t my first rodeo.”
Henderson admitted it was Edwards who asked him to stay on in that role, not necessarily something he sought out. How far do the two go back? Well Henderson was his defensive coordinator for a short time when Edwards headed the New York Jets.
“I actually had some other plans,” he said. “I was getting up there in this age group when you can start thinking about the beach, that little hut some place, been thinking about that. Come to find out I can’t get that money yet so I got to stay a little longer. But the main thing was the continuity I thought that was the best thing for us.”
While there has been substantial turnover on the offensive side of the ball, there is a solid core of veterans remaining on a defense, which led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (20.8 ppg) and yardage defense (326.3 ypg) and ranked second in both interceptions and sacks.
Darien Butler has departed but the Sun Devils return a four-year starter Merlin Robertson and another starter and last year’s team captain in Kyle Soelle.
The defensive line will likely be ASU’s strongest unit and have more depth there than the school has had in recent years. And while the back end of the defense graduated some starters, there are athletes back that saw considerable playing time. Henderson says little has changed. “As far as schematically, haven’t changed anything. What we wanted to do was keep the continuity as far as the kids, making sure we kept the flow of the call. I think I maybe changed one word as far as terminology so far but that’s about it,” Henderson said. Players see only small differences. “AP loved to blitz. He’s definitely more blitz heavy,” defensive end Michael Matus said. “Overall they’re both phenomenal coaches. Their attention to detail is astronomical. I like to think I pay attention to the details, well they pay attention to the details. It’s pretty hardcore. That’s what makes everybody better.”