The best coaches, no matter the level, embrace a teaching opportunity whenever it arises. Even if that lesson is difficult for the coach to accept, based on his own personal experience.
Jerome Henderson did not get what he wanted, and there is no doubt that stung. He was a candidate for the Giants defensive coordinator job that was vacated the day after the 2023 season ended when Wink Martindale lost it in Brian Daboll’s office.
Henderson went through a formal interview with Daboll — he was the only in-house candidate — but did not get the job. Daboll went outside the organization and hired Shane Bowen from the Titans.
This scenario often leads to a breakup, based on the ego of the coach who got bypassed and the possible degradation of the dynamics of the coaching staff.
Does a guy want to stay where he was told “no thanks’’? Does a team want the passed-over assistant to stay, knowing he might be disillusioned about his future with the organization?
Henderson chose to stay. He has been with the Giants since 2020, when he was a part of Joe Judge’s first staff, working for then-defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Daboll made it clear he wanted Henderson to stay.
Henderson did not allow his disappointment and pride to convince himself that he needed to leave.
“I was honored that Dabes gave me a chance to interview for the job,’’ Henderson said recently after a spring practice. “I put my best foot forward to get the job. I didn’t get it.’’
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What Henderson did is use his situation as a teaching tool. There are times in your career, he imparts to the defensive backs, when you will not get what you want, not get what you feel you deserve. At a time of individual letdown, how you react will define your value and commitment to the team. Do you sulk? Do you complain? Do you try to take down the guy who got the position you wanted?
“The way I looked at it, I told my players this: It’s just like I’m a backup corner and the guy in front of me gets a free-agent deal and I think I’m the next guy and all of a sudden the team says, ‘No, we’re going to bring in another guy to start,’” Henderson said. “Well, I still got to be a good teammate, and I asked them to do that. To me, I have to do that. I have to be a good teammate and have to be the right guy and have to put the Giants first because I ask my players to do it every day.’’
This is an unusual situation. Martindale, the head man on defense the past two years, is gone, but almost his entire staff remains. In addition to Henderson returning as the defensive backs coach, Andre Patterson is back as the defensive line coach, Bryan Cox is back as the assistant defensive line coach, John Egorugwu is back as the inside linebackers coach and Mike Treier is back as the assistant defensive backs coach.
Dean Wilkins — a close Martindale confidant — was let go by Daboll, and the replacement as the outside linebackers coach, Charlie Bullen, is the lone new position coach on defense.
Bowen presumably could have made more changes, but he opted to retain virtually the entire defensive staff.
“I guess this is a first for me, where most of the staff stays and a new coordinator comes in,’’ Henderson said.
What this means is the teachers must first be taught before they can relay the subject matter to the students. Martindale’s staff helped implement and run his system. That system is now gone. Bowen’s defense is quite different from the one the Giants used the past two seasons.
“For me, every time [Bowen] talks, I am intently listening and just trying to understand exactly what he wants and how he wants it,’’ Henderson said. “So I can see it from his eyes, so I can get my guys to play the way that he sees it, not the way that I see it. And so, I’m just trying to learn and keep my mind open and to absorb as much as I can. And he’s been phenomenal, he’s very detailed in what he wants and specific in what he wants, which helps me.’’
What Bowen is importing from Tennessee are not just tweaks and alterations. There is a drastic change coming to the Giants’ defense. Martindale lists Rex Ryan as a football mentor — the two worked together at the University of Cincinnati in the mid-1990s — and Martindale brought to the Giants the exotic blitz packages Ryan once specialized in.
Bowen’s track record with the Titans reflects a completely different approach. There will be far more emphasis on creating pressure with the four-man defensive line and asking the cornerbacks to play zone coverage.
“We will still pressure, we will still get after people, but … our menu won’t change as much week to week,’’ Henderson said. “It’s just how we use the menu week to week is maybe what will be different. But it won’t necessarily change. It’s kind of like going to a restaurant where you know every time I go in there this is gonna be on the menu, it’s just how do we change that menu to fit the team we’re playing that week and how do we present the menu that week to the team will be our philosophy.’’
Henderson had a good thing going with Martindale, who called him “the best secondary coach in the league.” Affable and accommodating, Henderson is now in the nascent stages of building a relationship with Bowen. At 54, fitting in and getting along has never been a problem for Henderson. He was an NFL cornerback for eight years and a defensive backs coach in the league since 2007. Everywhere he goes, he leaves behind a reputation for collaboration and teamwork.
Sure, he wants to run his own defense and become a coordinator. It is not too late for that to happen, but there is certainly a chance it does not.
Henderson returns with a new designation, having added defensive passing game coordinator to his job description as defensive backs coach. This is a way for teams to sweeten the pot a bit for loyal assistants with an upgraded title that includes a bump in salary. The Giants also did this for Mike Kafka, adding assistant head coach to his title of offensive coordinator.
“They tried to say we appreciate you, and I’m honored and I appreciate the organization for that,’’ Henderson said. “But I don’t know that’s it’s gonna change my day-to-day job.’’
No big change. Henderson was and remains the defensive backs coach. He does, however, have a new lesson he can impart to his players about dealing with disappointment.
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
We’ve seen reports that Drew Lock didn’t look sharp or accurate during a practice last week. How troubling is this?
How troubling is anything (other than injuries) that happens in May? It is true that Lock was inconsistent during organized team activity practice No. 3. But Lock is in the early stages of his acclimation to the Giants, he is just now learning the offense and he probably does not know the names of some of the guys he is working with in the huddle.
Lock, 27, was signed to serve as the backup quarterback to Daniel Jones, unless Jones is not ready to play Week 1 following knee surgery. In that case, the Giants believe Lock can start a game or two and give the team a chance to win.
These snippets of practice the media is allowed to view this time of year is all there is to go on. Making too much of some errant throws from Lock in the spring seems unnecessary.
What is the deal with Darius Slayton missing the OTAs? Will he be on the team this season?
Slayton stayed away from Phase 1 and 2 of the voluntary workout program, and he was not on the field for the Giants’ first three organized team activity practices as Phase 3 kicked off.
On Tuesday, the team released photos of OTA No. 4 (this session was closed to the media) and, wouldn’t you know it, Slayton’s picture was included in the gallery. He was on the field, and the team wanted to show that he was on the field.
Slayton’s earlier absences were the result of his desire to re-do the two-year, $12 million contract he signed before last season. Slayton is scheduled to make $2.5 million in salary and receive a roster bonus of $2.6 million for the 2024 season. It did not seem as if the Giants front office was inclined to re-do the deal or extend it.
Malik Nabers, who arrived with the No. 6 overall pick, should be the centerpiece of the passing attack. Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt are expected to join him atop the depth chart at receiver now and in the coming years. Though Slayton, 27, has led the team in receiving yards in four of his five NFL seasons and was remarkably consistent in the production he was able to generate within sub-standard passing offenses, he might not have an extended shelf life with the team beyond this season.