Illinois Football: Illini hit a home run with defensive coordinator Aaron Henry

Bret Bielema and the Illinois football program have tabbed their next defensive coordinator.

It was rough when the news first broke that Illini defensive coordinator Ryan Walters was departing the program and becoming the Purdue head coach. This came as a surprise because I didn’t think it would happen this season. I thought we had another year with Walters leading the defense.

But Walters is now leading the way for the Boilermakers. He isn’t going alone either. It was reported on Friday night by Tom Dienhart of On3 that Illinois’ outside linebackers coach Kevin Kane is going with Walters to be the Purdue defensive coordinator.

I figured Walters would take some of the Illinois coaching staff with him. Kane is a good coach who will do good work.

Illinois had some breaking news on Friday night as well. According to Jeremy Werner of 247Sports, Bielema is elevating defensive backs coach Aaron Henry to defensive coordinator.

Illinois football hit a home run by making Aaron Henry the defensive coordinator.

Earlier this week, I put together some options who I believe could end up being the defensive coordinator for the Illini. Among the names, I added who my favorite option was out of the group of coaches. The coach I named as my favorite was Henry.

I think this is a complete home run hire/elevation by the Illinois football program. Why go out and look for a defensive coordinator when you have the best option already on your coaching staff?

Henry has been climbing the coaching ranks quickly. He started with Bielema at Arkansas in 2014 as a graduate assistant on defense. He spent two seasons there before moving on to Rutgers. He coached defensive backs in some form or fashion from 2016 through 2020 with three different programs.

In 2021, Henry ended up coming to Illinois. He was the defensive backs coach with the Illini for the past two seasons. The development of the Illini defensive backs since he joined the program has been quite impressive.

The year before Henry became the Illinois defensive backs coach, the program was giving up 237.1 yards per game through the air, which ranked No. 69 in the country. In year one under Henry, the Illini improved by giving up just 215.2 yards per game through the air, which ranked No. 39 in the nation.

The improvement under Henry continued in 2022. Illinois went from No. 39 in the nation in passing yards allowed to No. 9 in the country, as the Orange and Blue gave up 176.0 yards per game through the air. So, in just two seasons with Henry as defensive backs coach, Illinois is giving up roughly 60 fewer passing yards per game. That is an insane improvement.

On top of that, Henry also helped develop some great talent. Kerby Joseph wasn’t on the radar of NFL teams heading into his senior year. He put up big numbers in 2021 and was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Tony Adams also signed on with the New York Jets that offseason.

Henry continued to develop the Illini secondary this past season. Another rising star was Devon Witherspoon. He went from someone who wasn’t on draft boards to now being ranked as the No. 65 best prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft. Not the No. 65 best defensive back, but he is the No. 65 best overall prospect. That means he is, at worst, a third-round draft pick.

And the last note I want to mention about Henry has to do with recruiting. The class of 2023 that is about to sign to play for the Illini next season is pretty solid. The meat of that class is in the secondary. Henry has been doing some serious work on the recruiting trail. He has been the primary recruiter for some big names on the Illinois roster and in the class of 2023. Some of the notable names include freshman All-American Gabe Jacas, Jaheim Clarke, top 1000 recruit who is flipping from safety to wide receiver Kenari Wilcher, top 700 defensive back from 2022 Elijah Mc-Cantos, and four-star safety Saboor Karriem who is coming in from the class of 2023.

All of these are the reasons why I thought Henry should be named the new defensive coordinator of the Illinois football team. He is a tremendous coach, recruiter, and developer of players. I love this hire and think it will be huge for the Illini. The future is bright.