With his position group taking a leading role, former Georgia Tech defensive end Eric Henderson earned his first Super Bowl ring as the defensive line coach with the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night.
Henderson, who has been with the Rams for three years in that position, oversaw a group that helped pressure Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and sacked him seven times, which earned a tie for most sacks in a Super Bowl with three of the most legendary defenses in NFL history – the 1975 Steelers, the 1985 Bears and the 2015 Broncos.
Three were recorded by the defensive line, two by Aaron Donald one more from A’Shawn Robinson.
Donald, the three-time NFL defensive player of the year who has credited Henderson for developing his ability, made the game-sealing play in the final minute of the game. With Cincinnati trailing 23-20 and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Rams’ 49-yard line, Donald exploded through the Bengals line and grabbed and spun Burrow, resulting in a desperation pass that fell incomplete to give the ball back to the Rams with 39 seconds remaining to run out the clock.
Henderson has been in coaching since 2012 after a six-year professional playing career. That followed a record-setting run at Tech, where he set school records for most tackles for loss in a season (24 in 2003) and career (59.5, 2002-05) that still stand.
After stints at Georgia Military College, Oklahoma State (he followed Tech defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State and worked one year with new Yellow Jackets linebackers coach Jason Semore) and Texas-San Antonio, Henderson reached the NFL in 2017 with the Chargers. He was hired in 2019 by the Rams as their defensive line coach and has gained a reputation as one of the top line coaches in the league.
Henderson may be the second Tech grad to win a Super Bowl as a coach, following Ken Whisenhunt, who won a Super Bowl as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator in 2006. In a list of Tech grads who’ve played or participated in a Super Bowl in the team football media guide, Whisenhunt is the only one named as a coach.
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