Aaron Henry - DBs Coach & Pass Game Coordinator

[IrishLion]

Henry sent four DBs to The League in five years. At Illinois. He can develop guys.

He's from Immokalee, FL and knows the state. Partridge and Henry recruiting Florida is going to be fun.

Valai was the top target but I think they're getting a solid hire here. He's not being asked to be DC and, again, the Notre Dame brand means something. He's going to have access to recruits he would not otherwise have access to at Illinois. Really is that simple.

Nobody was shitting rainbows when Mike Mickens was hired. Suddenly all you arm chair athletic administrators were throwing extra job titles and money at him so he'd never leave. Life comes at you fast.

I beg to differ. It was like a unicorn factory over here for a Bearcat fan. Just rainbow after rainbow shooting out when Mickens got the call.

 

[IrishLax]

The underrated thing here is that both of the new hires have preexisting relationships with Ash. Greatly mitigates risk of dysfunction.

 

[Dale]

What part of what I said was not a fact?

He’s been a bad DC
Illinois DBs have struggled recently
Illinois fans are rejoicing
Illinois beat rejoicing

All Facts

You also failed to mention that I said MF obviously knows more then I do and I’m sure it’ll work out.

“They absolutely hate him”

Yeah man you just spitting facts. Reading 2 minutes worth of Twitter replies after the hire is the perfect factual basis for an opinion

 

[Domina Nostra]

“They absolutely hate him”

Yeah man you just spitting facts. Reading 2 minutes worth of Twitter replies after the hire is the perfect factual basis for an opinion

I hate to be dropping insider info, but I happen to know that ND’s general manager had the same concern and stopped the entire interview process until the aggrieved Illini Twitter posters could be consulted.

After a reasonable, fact-based conversation—like most on Twitter—a new consensus was reached, The Illini fans admitted that they were wrong and wished ND all the best.

Marcus Freeman was, at that point, given the green light to continue interviewing (assuming no Illini fans posted anything else negative).

So we’re covered.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

What part of what I said was not a fact?

He’s been a bad DC- He’s not going to be our DC
Illinois DBs have struggled recently- any extenuating circumstances (I.e. no pass rush)?
Illinois fans are rejoicing- Who gives a fuck?
Illinois beat rejoicing- Who gives a fuck?

All Facts

You also failed to mention that I said MF obviously knows more then I do and I’m sure it’ll work out.

Made some updates.

 

[NDhoosier]

SoIll is deadset on trying to persuade all of us that it is a terrible hire....

 

[Calabrese's People]

I owe this man an apology @Calabrese's People

Accepted.

 

[stlnd01]

Illinois fans are perpetually miserable (which is fair). So I’d take any response from them with a big grain of salt.

 

[tko]

Ron Zook approves of this hire.

 

[BoredIrish]

Wait... Illinois has fans????

 

[GoIrish41]

ND should have one of the deepest DB rooms in the last 10 years in college football this coming year. At least top 10. I think just about anyone could coach this group.

Yeah. We’ve been talking about this for weeks. 🙂

 

[tirishman505]

I’m old enough to remember how much Tennessee fans hated Harry Hiestand

 

[Old Man Mike]

My memory on Harry is not the same as the above. The Tennessee "fans" were stuck with a crummy head coaching admin who made life miserable for several of the assistants, essentially throwing them under the bus. Several assistants ran out of there. Harry came to ND so pissed at that that he once expressed the idea that he'd like ND to be his last (relatively peaceful) stop. I really hoped that he'd stick it out until he retired here but he got his engine refueled.

 

[Old Man Mike]

I got the impression that the reason that Illinois sucked (relatively speaking) on defense was that their D-Line wasn't at all good, could get no pass pressure, no sacks etc. This left the D-Backfield with too much time to cover. Henry apparently deserves some of the overall blame in this because he knew that his D-Line was depleted after the previous year, went out and got transfers, thought the transfers would even be a strength, and ... they generally sucked. So he blew it on his evaluation of D-Linemen. Being himself a D-Back, however, I have no problem with him coaching what he knows.

 

[choo choo]

Remmah?

Can't believe a baseball fan didn't get this lol

 

[Crazy Balki]

Illini fans seem to be very happy he's leaving. Wonder what that's about

Because he was an excellent DB coach but an unimpressive DC.

 

[irishff1014]

 

[Redbar]

Saban spent his last 10 or so years reforming the careers and reputations of coaches that had serious talent but had gotten them self in a bad spot one way or another. Not saying that is happening here in this case, but I do know none of us has enough context to say that this is poor hire. Coach Freeman knows what he is doing, I know that.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Saban spent his last 10 or so years reforming the careers and reputations of coaches that had serious talent but had gotten them self in a bad spot one way or another. Not saying that is happening here in this case, but I do know none of us has enough context to say that this is poor hire. Coach Freeman knows what he is doing, I know that.

I wouldn't say that Freeman is rehabbing coaches.

I think he is maxing out on Peter Principle guys though. Guys who went out and tried the coordinator/head coach life and it didn't work out.

Chris Ash was a good DC, and bad HC.
Charlie Partridge was a good DL coach, and bad HC.
Aaron Henry was a good DB coach, and bad DC.
Joe Rudolph was a good OL coach, and bad OC.

Jury's still out on Gino. He was fine in his brief stint as OC at Cincinnati, maybe he grows into the heir apparent when Denbrock retires.

Adding Brian Jean-Mary to the list. He has mostly been a LB coach his entire career. He had a brief stint at USF's DC, which didn't work out. I think he's another Peter Principle candidate.

 

[stlnd01]

I wouldn't say that Freeman is rehabbing coaches.

Jury's still out on Gino. He was fine in his brief stint as OC at Cincinnati, maybe he grows into the heir apparent when Denbrock retires.

I'd bet this is Gino's last year as our QB coach. When Carr wins the Heisman, he'll be a hot OC hire.

 

[irish4ever]

I’m feeling higher.

You need to abstain from drugs.

 

[Green Mountains]

I'm still reading this as ND hires Henry Aaron. That would be a home run hire, except Hank Aaron died in 2021.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I beg to differ. It was like a unicorn factory over here for a Bearcat fan. Just rainbow after rainbow shooting out when Mickens got the call.

You'd be in the minority. The first page of his thread when he was hired is mostly nothing to do about him at all. It's pretty hilarious.

He came into a pretty lean roster in 2020, and that's putting it lightly. There are plenty of receipts in that thread.

I'm actually glad Mickens went to the NFL and isn't out there competing against ND. I'm curious to see where his career goes from here.

 

[KMac151993]

You'd be in the minority. The first page of his thread when he was hired is mostly nothing to do about him at all. It's pretty hilarious.

He came into a pretty lean roster in 2020, and that's putting it lightly. There are plenty of receipts in that thread.

I'm actually glad Mickens went to the NFL and isn't out there competing against ND. I'm curious to see where his career goes from here.

Thoughts on this hire Jigga?

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Thoughts on this hire Jigga?

It's good. I honestly didn't think they'd be able to get him. @Calabrese's People called it, though, but I really didn't think they could do it. They hired a Big Ten DC to come over and coach DBs with a Co-DC title. That's big. Say whatever you want about how his DC patch went, they did a good job getting this hire done.

Illinois is 19-7 in the last two seasons with two bowl wins. They're not Indiana, obviously, but that is a significant run for Illinois Football. Henry was on that staff and while his DC tenure was rough, he can coach DBs, as evidenced but what they were able to develop and put into The League. They have some talent on that staff, too, and some of those guys are familiar with Ash. Henry isn't the only one. Give Henry the ND brand and resources.

He's young, he's from Florida and he's familiar with Ash. He's going to have the opportunity to work with a significantly talented group on the big stage. I'm optimistic, and as much as Valai was an intriguing idea, getting Henry is not at all a terrible option.

 

[StPaul_Irish]

I am guessing Ash is ok with the Co-DC title then. Wonder how that went, and if that is an option, could we have used that to convince Mickens to stay?

 

[stlnd01]

I am guessing Ash is ok with the Co-DC title then. Wonder how that went, and if that is an option, could we have used that to convince Mickens to stay?

Just guessing here, but I suspect Mickens would have *actually* wanted to be co-DC, for his own professional development, whereas Henry, who has been a DC and already has that experience, is fine simply having the title (and presumably the pay bump that comes with it).

 

[MacIrish75]

Techmo Bowl guy here

Pass 2 all day.

 

[rtrn2glory]

I am guessing Ash is ok with the Co-DC title then. Wonder how that went, and if that is an option, could we have used that to convince Mickens to stay?

in all reality, they could give the new LB coach a "Co-DC" title too as well. Henry could be the "Pass Game Coordinator" and the LB coach "Run Game Coordinator" if that helps seal the deal. handout "CO-DC" titles like Oprah if need be to get the guy we want.

 

[lefty5258]

in all reality, they could give the new LB coach a "Co-DC" title too as well. Henry could be the "Pass Game Coordinator" and the LB coach "Run Game Coordinator" if that helps seal the deal. handout "CO-DC" titles like Oprah if need be to get the guy we want.

This is basically what we had last year with Mickens and Washington