Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: News

Henry

Following the Henderson Reddies' Homecoming loss to the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, a member of the coaching staff was relieved of his duties.

Defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Robert Henry was dismissed after coaching the Reddies for five years.

Head coach Scott Maxfield fired Henry Sunday morning after the game.

The two have coached at Henderson together for five years and previously coached together for a year at Blinn Community College in Texas. With their history, Henry's dismissal was unexpected.

"I was very surprised with what happened, very surprised," Henry said. "I thought we had made progress and were doing better."

Henry coached at several places before landing with the Reddies.

In his 30-year career, he has coached at Baylor, the University of Tennessee and the University of Mississippi.

He has coached in eight bowl games and was nominated for Southeastern Conference (SEC) assistant coach of the year in 1988.

That success followed Henry to Henderson.

He led the defense into the national rankings in 2006 and 2007.

In 2007, the Reddie defense allowed only 267.4 yards per game and finished 10th nationally in overall defense.

This was an improvement from 403.5 yards per game that was being allowed by the Reddie defense prior to the arrival of Henry.

However, firing Henry was a move Maxfield believes will help the Reddies down the road to success once again. "I wanted to make a change in the direction of the defense," said Maxfield.

"I felt this would give us the best chance to be successful for the last two games."

Maxfield would not comment on whether or not friendship and loyalty between him and Henry played a role in the dismissal of Coach Henry.

He also would not comment on his discussion with Henry following the homecoming game.

Maxfield did comment on why the decision came so quickly and why he felt it was for the best.

"Coach Henry is a good coach," Maxfield said.

"Unfortunately, we have not played well the last two years on defense."

Coaching changes have already been implemented on the Reddie staff.

Coach Clint Smith and Coach Matt Gordon are now overseeing the defense along with Maxfield. Maxfield also took over Henry's position as coach of the linebackers.

But the Reddie football players also have to make adjustments on and off the football field.

Continued...

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