Report: ASU to offer coaching position to Donnie Henderson
Dec 15, 2017, 9:10 AM | Updated: 12:33 pm
Buffalo Bills defensive backs coach Donnie Henderson instructs players during their NFL football rookie camp at the team's facility in Orchard Park, N.Y., Saturday, May 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
(AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
Herm Edwards’ first Arizona State coaching staff is still taking shape.
Just days after defensive coordinator Phil Bennett decided not to accept Edwards’ offer to stay on the staff for 2018, a new name has surfaced as a candidate for a spot on the defensive staff.
Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station has learned that Edwards has zeroed in on longtime NFL assistant Donnie Henderson for a job on the revamped staff.
Henderson, 60, wasn’t on a coaching staff in 2017. His last stop was in Buffalo, where he served as the defensive backs coach for the Bills from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, Henderson had two one-year stints in the college game, serving as the DBs coach at Southern University in 2011 and at Syracuse in 2012.
The veteran is also no stranger to the Valley. Henderson coached defensive backs for the Cardinals under head coach Ken Whisenhunt from 2009 to 2010 an was on the staff at ASU from 1992 to 1997 under Bruce Snyder.
Henderson does have some experience as a defensive coordinator during his career. He held that position with the New York Jets under Edwards from 2004 to 2005. In 2006, he oversaw the Detroit Lions’ defense under head coach Rod Marinelli for a team that went 3-13 and ranked 30th in the league, giving up an average of 24.9 points per contest.
Bennett, who held the position for one year after coming from Baylor to work with head coach Todd Graham, had a positive influence on Arizona State’s defense. The Sun Devils ranked second-to-last among FBS teams in total yardage allowed in 2015, giving up 521 yards per game in 2015 under coordinator Keith Patterson. Last year, the Sun Devils yielded 447 yards per game, good for 109th in the country and eighth in the Pac-12.
Earlier in the week, reports circulated that Arizona State’s search was focused on Texas Tech defensive coordinator David Gibbs, but he ended up signing a contract extension that keeps him under contract with the Red Raiders through the 2019 season.
In addition to Henderson, The Football Scoop reported Friday that former NFL and University of Arizona linebacker Antonio Pierce is a candidate to join the coaching staff as a linebackers coach.
Pierce is currently the Director of Football Operations and Special Teams Coordinator at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California.
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