FootballScoop is proud to announce that Aaron Henry (Illinois) is the 2022 FootballScoop Defensive Backs Coach of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
Over the past 10 seasons, more than a thousand different groups of defensive backfields have taken the field. Only one posted better numbers than the 2022 Illinois secondary.
The Illini posted a pass efficiency number of 92.64, which was more than 10 points better than the next-best defense (Penn State, 103.24), nearly 40 points better than the median pass defense, and trailed only 2013 Michigan State (92.28) for the best in a decade.
The Illini's numbers were so good because, put simply, throwing against them was a high-risk/low-reward proposition.
Illinois led the nation by a relative mile in interceptions. The Illini swiped 24 picks; No. 2 Middle Tennessee claimed only 20. On the flip side, only one team (Minnesota) allowed fewer passing touchdowns than Illinois's nine.
When opposing passers managed to keep the ball out of the Illini's hands, completions didn't tend to do much damage.
On the whole, opponents went 213-of-415 passes (51.3 percent) for 2,259 yards (5.4 per attempt). Illinois ranked first in the nation in opponent completion percentage and second in yards per attempt.
In 13 games, only two opponents managed to throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Among the gems that Henry's unit threw:
vs. Wyoming: 5-of-20 for 30 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT (27.6 rating)
vs. Virginia: 13-of-34 for 180 yards with 0 TDs and 2 INTs (70.9)
vs. Chattanooga: 6-of-19 for 49 yards with 0 TDs and 2 INTs (32.2)
vs. Iowa: 18-of-36 for 170 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT (84.1)
vs. Minnesota: 6-of-18 for 38 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs (17.7)
vs. Northwestern: 17-of-31 for 167 yards with 0 TDs and 5 INTs (67.8)
vs. Mississippi State: 30-of-45 for 274 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs (116.3)
Illinois kept opposing passers out of the end zone for back-to-back games on three separate occasions; the Illini swiped multiple interceptions seven times in 13 games. Seven Illini defensive backs snared at least one interception.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon was named an AP First Team All-American and was named the Big Ten's Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year. Senior Sydney Brown joined Witherspoon on the All-Big Ten First Team, while Jartavius Martin made the All-Big Ten Third Team.
A Wisconsin graduate and an Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Henry started coaching under his college coach, Bret Bielema, as an Arkansas graduate assistant in 2014. He coached at Rutgers, NC State and Vanderbilt before reuniting with Bielema in 2021. Henry was promoted to defensive coordinator following Ryan Walters's departure for Purdue.
"Aaron is a special person and coach," Bielema said. "His ability to connect with our current roster, as well as potential student-athletes, is among the best I've been around. He has a gift to teach, motivate, inspire, and lead young people. Aaron has made an enormous impact on our defensive backs room in two years. He will be an accomplished defensive coordinator."
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Terry M. Smith and Anthony Poindexter [Penn State], Steve Clinkscale and Jay Harbaugh [Michigan], Lance Guidry and Chevis Jackson [Marshall], Kane Ioane and Demario Warren [Boise State] and Henry) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the Defensive Backs Coach of the Year award are Tim Billings (Wake Forest, 2008), Everett Withers and Troy Douglas (North Carolina, 2009), Chad Glasgow and Clay Jennings (TCU, 2010), Ron Cooper (LSU, 2011), Bill Busch and Kendrick Shaver (Utah State, 2012), Jeremy Pruitt (Florida State, 2013), Dave Wommack and Jason Jones (Ole Miss, 2014), Mike Reed (Clemson, 2015), Charles Clark and Joe Tumpkin (Colorado, 2016), Anthony Campanile (Boston College, 2017), Bryan Brown and Greg Gasparato (Appalachian State, 2018), Mickey Conn and Mike Reed (Clemson, 2019), Perry Eliano and Colin Hitschler (Cincinnati, 2020), and Phil Parker (Iowa, 2021).
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