Last week, rumors began to circulate that the Indianapolis Colts were considering Jerome Henderson to join their defensive coaching staff, which still has openings for coaching the secondary and defensive backs.
After choosing Lou Anarumo to replace the highly-criticized Gus Bradley, the Colts brought James Bettcher on board; both Anarumo and Bettcher were poached from the Cincinnati Bengals. Henderson, however, most recently hails from New York, where he was the defensive backs coach with the Giants for four seasons.
Initially, it wasn't clear which position Henderson was being considered for, but CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz has confirmed that the Colts have decided to hire him as their next defensive backs coach.
The #Colts are in fact set to hire Jerome Henderson as a defensive backs coach, sources tell me and @TomLoy247.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) February 21, 2025
Henderson, who has worked in the NFL since 2006, was the Giants’ defensive pass game coordinator this past season. Interviewed for New York’s DC job last year.… https://t.co/dNid3mn6LY pic.twitter.com/9kIdFZ6cxM
Henderson originally played football as a cornerback for the Clemson Tigers, and was drafted in 1991. During his time as a player, he was in two Super Bowls, once with the New England Patriots and once with the Buffalo Bills, though neither team won. His last season was with the New York Jets in 1997.
After his NFL career ended, he turned to coaching, and has had a decent amount of success, and seems to be an up-and-coming name. Initially, he remained with the Jets as their defensive backs coach, where he was hired in 2007. He coached there for two years, until head coach Eric Mangini left New York for the Cleveland Browns; Henderson chose to go with him, and was the defensive backs coach for three seasons there.
In 2012, Henderson was hired by the Dallas Cowboys, and then moved on to the Atlanta Falcons as the defensive passing game coordinator in 2016. That year, he and the Falcons competed in Super Bowl LI, where they narrowly lost in overtime. After the 2019 season, he was fired, and landed with the New York Giants in 2020, where he's remained for the past four seasons.
Henderson was considered to take the position as defensive coordinator for the Giants, but narrowly missed out; he's been called the "best secondary coach in the league" by Wink Martindale.