A few football notes to pass along on this rainy, albeit unseasonably balmy, Wednesday afternoon in St. Louis:
- As expected, head coach Gary Pinkel has announced Josh Henson has joined the Missouri Tigers coaching staff. Pinkel made the announcement Tuesday, officially verifying what most of us have known for more than a month.
Henson, 33, was originally rumored to have been targeted by Pinkel back in January, in an effort fill the void left by the departure of offensive coordinator Dave Christensen, who is now the head coach at the University of Wyoming. Henson, a former Oklahoma State offensive lineman, has been Les Miles' tight ends coach at LSU the past four seasons and was integral in constructing a number of high profile recruiting classes at Baton Rouge as the school's recruiting coordinator.
At Missouri, Henson will split offensive line coaching duties with current MU staff member Bruce Walker, who recently relinquished his tight ends duties to wide receivers coach Andy Hill. As of right now, Henson's recruiting duties are undefined, but you can bet he will be given expansive duties when it comes to recruiting top-level prep players to Columbia.
"I am very excited to join Coach Pinkel’s staff and work with this program, which is really well respected nationally,” Henson said in a news release. “Missouri’s staff has a reputation of doing things in a first-class manner, and the strides they’ve made over the years makes this a very attractive place to be. I’m grateful for the opportunity and pleased to be back in Big 12 country.”
Henson's hiring is crucial in a number of ways:
- His past as a bona fide Big 12 offensive lineman will lend itself toward establishing a physical nature among present and future MU linemen that has seemingly been absent against superior opposition (i.e. Oklahoma and Texas)
- His natural knack for recruiting will prove to be invaluable as he utilizes the pipeline he has established through his efforts at LSU. Henson, who was ranked as one of the country's top recruiters in 2006 and 2007 by Rivals.com, now has opened doors for Mizzou in the talent-rich South, areas such as Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana that have been dominated by SEC recruiting efforts—and where MU assistants have seldom tread. Don't be surprised if Pinkel delegates responsibility to Henson for this entire region.
Check out Dave Matter's Q & A session with the new member of Pinkel's staff.
- Missouri's Oct. 3 home date with the University of Nebraska has been moved to Thursday, Oct. 8, to accommodate an request made by ESPN, which will broadcast the game at 8 p.m.
"We are very appreciative to Dave Brown and ESPN for the opportunity to showcase our program, our University and the City of Columbia. This is a marquee game that we are very excited to have featured on the national stage in this way," said Missouri Director of Athletics Mike Alden. "Our campus and student leadership are excited about the game, and we're certainly aware that playing on a Thursday presents some unique challenges.
Among those challenges will be putting to rest the horrific performance the Tigers provided during their last Thursday night appearance, which was Sept. 9, 2004. Up 14 points in the blink of an eye in front of a national audience, Missouri surrendered 24 unanswered to then-obscure Troy University in a 24-14 defeat down in Alabama
- In another case of Mizzou prostituting itself to the Worldwide Leader, the Sept. 26 game at Nevada has been moved to the evening of Friday of Sept. 25, as necessitated by MU's agreement with ESPN to move its game with Nebraska. The game with the Wolfpack will be televised on the broadcasting giant's family of networks.
Comments