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

of the

. During the 2021 season, Henderson filled in at

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