Jerome Virgil Henderson (born August 8, 1969) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is currently serving as the

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

s coach for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played in the NFL as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. Henderson played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

and was selected in the second round of the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

. He played in two

Super Bowls The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

; one with the

Super Bowl XXVIII Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

and another with the

Super Bowl XXXI Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

Coaching career

New York Jets

Henderson spent two years coaching defensive backs with the

Cleveland Browns

Henderson went to Cleveland after his stint with the Jets, following head coach

Eric Mangini Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is an American former professional football coach and current television sports analyst. He served as a head coach for the New York Jets from 2006 to 2008 and the Cleveland Browns from 2009 to 2010. ...

. He spent three seasons as the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

' defensive backs coach.

Dallas Cowboys

Henderson joined the

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

’ staff in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. Henderson was reunited with

Rob Ryan Robert Allen Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently an assistant head coach for the USC Trojans. Ryan has served as a defensive coordinator or assistant coach for nine different NFL teams. He was the lineb ...

, who served as the Browns' defensive coordinator from

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

before filling the same role for the Cowboys in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Henderson left Dallas following the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

season.

Atlanta Falcons

After interviewing for a head coach job with the Browns, Henderson ended up as a coach with the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distribu ...

. In the 2016 season, Henderson and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

, where they faced the

on February 5, 2017. In the Super Bowl, the Falcons fell in a 34–28 overtime defeat. The Falcons dismissed Henderson after the 2019 season, his fourth working for the team. He had served as Atlanta’s secondary coach/defensive passing game coordinator.

New York Giants

On January 21, 2020, the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

hired Henderson to be the team’s defensive backs coach. Henderson has remained with the Giants under head coaches Joe Judge and

Brian Daboll Brian Michael Daboll (; born April 14, 1975) is a Canadian American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the offensive coordina ...

. In May 2022,

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Wink Martindale Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (December 4, 1933 – April 15, 2025) was an American disc jockey, radio personality, game show host and television producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he was known for his outgoing and jovial demeanor and ...

called Henderson "the best secondary coach in the league." In January 2024, Henderson interviewed for the Giants defensive coordinator job, vacated by Martindale. While he did not get the job, he added the title of passing game coordinator. Henderson and the Giants parted ways on January 16, 2025.

Indianapolis Colts

On February 21, 2025, the

hired Henderson to serve as the team's defensive backs coach.

Personal life

Henderson and his wife, Traci, have three children, Jazmin and twins Taylor and Tyler.

References

External links

* http://www.dallascowboys.com/team/coaches/roster/jerome-henderson Retrieved September 1, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Jerome 1969 births Living people Players of American football from Portsmouth, Virginia African-American coaches of American football American football defensive backs Atlanta Falcons coaches Buffalo Bills players Clemson Tigers football players Cleveland Browns coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches New York Giants coaches New York Jets players New York Jets coaches New England Patriots players Philadelphia Eagles players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Coaches of American football from North Carolina