USC Football: Former Rams Legend Unpacks Relationship With Trojans' Eric Henderson

The ultimate praise for Henderson.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

USC football set out to improve their defense this offseason following a disastrous run under former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Grinch, who coached the Trojans' D for two seasons, led a unit that ranked 94th in the FBS in 2022 and 116th in 2023.

Lincoln Riley and the Trojans made multiple key moves to change the trajectory of their defense, including hiring former UCLA defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn and former Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson as the team's co-defensive coordinators. Lynn transformed UCLA's defense into a top-10 unit, while Henderson worked with one of the best defensive players in NFL history — Aaron Donald.

Donald achieved success before Henderson became his coach, leading the NFL in sacks in 2018 and winning two Defensive Player of the Year awards before Henderson arriving with the Rams in 2019. Still, Donald credits Henderson for making him into a better player during the second half of his career.

"I can truly say he made me a better football player, having the opportunity to learn from him, get coached by him," Donald said on The Brockcast. "Even when it comes to breaking down film. Every single week I'm in there with him, 'what can we do to get off a double or triple team ... I was always nonstop meeting together with Coach Henny."

This endorsement bodes well for the Trojans and their defense, which looked significantly improved — albeit against a vanilla offensive game plan — during their spring game in April. USC's defense racked up four turnovers against the offense, along with one sack.

The praise from Donald is especially important for Henderson and the Trojans' defense after two five-star defensive line commits, Justus Terry and Isaiah Gibson, de-committed from USC last month. Henderson has also received kudos from All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who commented on the importance of getting good college coaching amid the NIL landscape following Gibson and Terry's de-committing.