Donnie Henderson (born May 17, 1957) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
coach. He is currently the defensive coordinator at
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
, and before that he was defensive coordinator of the
Salt Lake Stallions
The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team in ...
of the
Alliance of American Football
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...
.
Biography
Henderson first joined the Jets during the
2004 NFL season
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.
With New England as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced the rescheduling o ...
. In
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, the Jets had a second-ranked defense against the pass, but a 32nd-ranked defense against the run, which undoubtedly was one of the factors leading to the team's disappointing 4–12 record (in addition to
Chad Pennington
James Chadwick Pennington (born June 26, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Marshall, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was selecte ...
and
Curtis Martin
Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patrio ...
being absent for most of the season due to injury). Henderson was not kept on after
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Herman Edwards
Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...
was replaced by
Eric Mangini
Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini had been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2013 and served as the team's tight ends coach for two seasons before b ...
following the season.
Henderson soon accepted the defensive coordinator position for the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
and new head coach,
Rod Marinelli
Rodney Marinelli (born July 13, 1949) is an American football coach. He has been a defensive coach for several college and professional teams, serving primarily as a defensive line coach when he has not been a coordinator. From 2006 until 2008, ...
. The Lions went 3–13 in 2006 and finished the season ranked 27th out of 32 in total defense. Henderson was fired from his position on January 2, 2007.
In 2010, he was hired by 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) West division, and play t ...
as a defensive backs coach.
Henderson coached at Southern University in 2011 and was named the defensive backs coach at Syracuse University in 2012. He was hired by the Buffalo Bills in 2013 to coach the defensive backs. He was a coach in
The Spring League
The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...
in 2017 and 2018.
In October 2018, he was announced as the defensive coordinator for the
Salt Lake Stallions
The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team in ...
of the
Alliance of American Football
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...
.
During the 2021 season, Henderson filled in at
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
as the interim defensive backs coach, and then following the season, he was promoted to defensive coordinator.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Donnie
1975 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Baltimore
Players of American football from Maryland
African-American coaches of American football
National Football League defensive coordinators
Arizona Cardinals coaches
Baltimore Ravens coaches
Buffalo Bills coaches
Detroit Lions coaches
New York Jets coaches
Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches
California Golden Bears football coaches
Houston Cougars football coaches
Idaho Vandals football coaches
Sacramento Mountain Lions coaches
Southern Jaguars football coaches
Syracuse Orange football coaches
Utah State Aggies football coaches
The Spring League coaches
Salt Lake Stallions coaches
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople