Joshua Aaron Henson (born July 14, 1975) is an American

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

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

who is the current

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

. Henson was previously the

for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

(2013–2015) and the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

(2022–2024). Henson 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 ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

from 1993 to 1997. Henson was born in

Tuttle, Oklahoma Tuttle is a city in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,413 with the close of the 2020 census, seeing a 23.2% increase from 6,010 in 2010. History Located east of the Chisholm Trail, Tuttle was developed as a farming ...

. He attended Tuttle High School where he excelled at football and

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

. After graduation from high school, Henson enrolled at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

where he walked-on as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He transitioned to an

, where he started for the Cowboys, starting for four seasons. As a fifth-year senior in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, he led Oklahoma State to the 1997 Alamo Bowl and was a Second-team All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

player.

Early life and education

Born on July 14, 1975, in

. As a senior at Tuttle High School, Henson was named All-State by the OCA as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. Henson enrolled

and walked-on to the Oklahoma State Cowboys football team, where he was listed as a linebacker as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

. In the summer, Henson transferred to Northeastern State, where he was listed a defensive end. With some of the Oklahoma State recruiting not qualifying academically, Henson was recruited back to Oklahoma State, where he was listed as the starting

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

. While at Oklahoma State, Henson started 37 games at offensive line and was named All-Big 12. Henson graduated from Oklahoma State with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in secondary education.

Coaching career

After graduating from Oklahoma State, Henson had a one-year stint as an assistant to the Kingfisher High School football team, where he helped the team reach the state semifinals. The next year, Henson became a graduate assistant for

but later he became the

tight ends coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordina ...

at Oklahoma State for the next four years. When Oklahoma State head coach,

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

left to become the head coach at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, he brought Henson with him to coach tight ends. After another four years, Henson left LSU to become the co-offensive line coach and later the offensive coordinator for

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. After not being retained as offensive coordinator by the new head coach,

Barry Odom Barry Stephen Odom (born November 26, 1976) is an American college football coach and former linebacker who is the head football coach at Purdue Boilermakers football, Purdue University. He previously served as the head coach at the UNLV Rebels f ...

, Henson returned to Oklahoma State to become the offensive line coach. Three years after, Henson left to become the offensive line coach for Texas A&M. In 2022, Henson once again got the opportunity to be an offensive coordinator, becoming USC's offensive coordinator under new coach

Lincoln Riley Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. Riley previously served as the head coach ...

. Henson's role with USC included not making any play calls, but bringing suggestions to head coach Riley. In December 2024, Henson was named the offensive coordinator of the

References

External links

USC profile

Texas A&M profile

LSU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Josh 1975 births Living people American football offensive linemen LSU Tigers football coaches Missouri Tigers football coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys football coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches USC Trojans football coaches High school football coaches in Oklahoma People from Tuttle, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma