The difference between Eric Henderson and Josh Henson at USC
The USC Trojans have two position coaches who are both hugely important for USC football in 2024. One of them is Eric Henderson on the defensive line. One is Josh Henson on the offensive line. Naturally, line play is the central key for USC in its 2024 season, so in that sense, Henderson and Henson are in the same boat. Yet, a fuller look at these coaches unearths a fundamental difference between them.
Eric Henderson is the hope of this coaching staff. The hope at USC is that if Henderson is as great as advertised, USC can take less-than-spectacular talent and turn it into a top-tier defensive line unit in the course of the 2024 season. Henderson is the coach who has the most upside because of his credentials as he enters his job.
Josh Henson is the concern of this coaching staff at USC. After a difficult 2023 season, Henson has a lot to prove heading into 2024. There are recruiting concerns attached to Henson which don’t exist with Henderson. Part of that is simply a product of longevity. Henson is entering his third year on staff while Henderson is new. However, Henson’s need to coach up players is heightened by his lack of five-star splash hits on the trail. If he recruited better, his player development performance wouldn’t be as much of a question mark.
Henderson and Henson are linked in that they’re the two most important position coaches on the roster, but the ways in which that shared importance emerges are substantially different. This is how Eric Henderson and Josh Henson are entering the 2024 USC season from fundamentally different vantage points.
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