USC's Eric Henderson describes 'dawgwork' and how he can use it

In the offseason, USC lured defensive line coach Eric Henderson, the dean of dawgwork, away from his successful run with the Los Angeles Rams. Henderson coached 14-year NFL veteran Michael Brockers, who played two years for the Rams with Henderson as his defensive line coach.

Brockers interviewed “Coach Henny” for his YouTube podcast, TheBrockcast, this week. During the interview at 19:11 Henderson explained the “Dawg” that he’s looking to sign for his defensive line room at USC.

“A dawg, straight up. You know sometimes guys don’t always have elite measurables, or be the tallest guy, the biggest guy, the strongest guy … but when you got something in your chest that pumpin’ louder than everybody else, I’m rocking with that. Because I trust my ability as a coach to get you better. There is no one better in the game that has been there to help you to reach that level of competitiveness, when you talk about defensive line play, then I think I am. I know I can help anybody; I help everybody get better. That’s just the way I feel. That may be an issue, but at the end of the day I feel that way.”

It may frustrate Trojan fans, but Henderson is not chasing star rankings on recruiting services; he’s looking for “dawgs” with the heart and drive to play for him at USC and develop for the NFL. His work with five-star players Anthony Lucas and Bear Alexander will be just as important as the development of Kobe Pepe, Gavin Meyer and young guys such as true freshmen Jide Abisiri and Carlon Jones. He will try to take Nate Clifton’s game to the next level with “dawgwork.”

Young stars of the future, those thinking about committing and even those who have decommitted recently, will be closely watching the defensive development along the line for improvement. Will Henderson have his guys focused on base fundamentals and playing sound defense in new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s defense in year one?

Henderson’s confidence is infectious the same ability he used to bring out the “DAWG” in his players was good enough to produce a Super Bowl winning defensive line and by polishing veterans and developing rookies in the NFL.

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