5-star DE KJ Henry says he'd consider signing with school that hires his dad
Alabama recently backed off its pursuit of 5-star 2018 DE KJ Henry, which seemed like a strange move, as schools don’t generally do that when recruiting elite athletes.
However, a wrinkle with Henry’s eventual decision could have been what caused the Crimson Tide to back off of him.
According to The State, Henry said that if any of his top-five schools — Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia Tech — were to hire his father, Keith Henry, he’d give them even stronger consideration:
“Out of my five schools, if my dad were to end up anywhere, obviously that’s what he loves to do and he is part of my family and I like all five schools enough to where that could be a big decision coming forward,” Henry said. “It’s nothing where it is an analyst type deal or anything like that, but if he could go in and coach that would be big.
“At the same time, we have already talked about that. He is not pressuring me like if he were to get a job he’s letting every coach know that doesn’t ensure that I’m committing there. It’s still my decision, but it is definitely something I think about.”
Keith is currently the running backs coach at Charlotte, so he has experience coaching at the collegiate level.
Whether any of the teams mentioned decide to hire Keith Henry remains to be seen, but KJ has made it clear he’ll give a team that hires his dad preferential treatment.
According to the 247Sports composite, Henry is the No. 3 weak-side defensive end in the class of 2018 and the No. 2 overall recruit from the state of North Carolina.
Smart move by Alabama to back off….this smells
Thats the new generation. Then daddy will think he wont have to do much bc of his kid while sitting back making big money. New kind of hustle.
South Carolina needs to hire his dad and put Bobby Bentley as quarterback coach or oc
Too blatant. Kid needs to learn these deals are made in back rooms.
I feel like whoever he commits to will have the NCAA knocking on their door
Whoa, isn’t that receiving something of value for signing? Is he just not very smart or soliciting a bribe?
Way to go chucklehead. You just banished yourself to a G5 program. One that may or may not hire your dad.
Wasn’t there a rule change that explicitly prohibited this? Or did it not go through?
I could be wrong, but I believe that was an SEC rule that was implemented this year. It may be the entire NCAA, though.
Id have assume no because we got jake at qb and Bobby Bentley coaching our rbs
The rule they passed had to do with hiring high school coaches of recruits. There’s a 2 year ban on hiring anyone for an off-field position that’s at a school where they are recruiting a kid. I don’t think it mentioned parents or hiring coaches for on-field positions.
For all the people saying this is bad for him to say… he was asked a hypothetical question, and gave a hypothetical answer. His dad has coached at the college level for a long time, 11 years at Wake Forest. So his dad is a legitimate position coach, who has been recruiting and coaching college players for years. He’s currently at Charlotte, so is looking for an upgrade… either way, KJ was asked a question and answered honestly. Also, he said it would not guarantee that he commits to that school either. Pretty bad reporting leaving all those details out, eh? Acting like he is looking for some guarantee for his dad, when his dad is an actual legitimate college coach already. And no, Bama would not back off because of this, they probably just know he’s a strong lean to Clemson, and UGA is second. They’d rather concentrate their efforts elsewhere than fight an uphill recruiting battle with so few days left to the early signing period. Move along folks, just a clickbait article here.
It’s amazing how you know so much about why Bama backed off. Did the University call and let you know why?…… Good job posting your assumption as a fact.
What do you not get about “they probably just know he’s a strong lean to Clemson?” The keyword there is “probably.” So, of course, this is speculation. Reading comprehension is key, my friend. You should try it some time.
This article is pure speculation about why Bama is backing off as well. I think we’re all free to speculate. I just wanted to share all the writer’s missed facts about his dad being a legitimate coach, the writer so lazily left out.
Except the “Bama would not back off because of this” doesnt fit your “probably” argument….. I dont care what your speculation is. You’re the one pretending to know they wouldn’t back off because of the stated reason in the article… You may have meant something else but that’s not what you said.
Either way, Bama is a long shot to land his commitment. Hence, they are backing off. They’d rather spend their time and resources on someone more likely to commit, especially with this new early signing day. If you follow recruiting closely, you’d know Bama is #3 in his recruitment and he’s set to decide in a few days. They probably know he’s a long shot at this point. Doesn’t that seem more likely than this hypothetical question he was asked by a reporter?
Anything is possible but to say they wouldn’t back off just because of a job for his dad was what you said. We have no idea but you sure do know it cant be for the reason stated right? Facts and opinions seems to confuse you as you run post one as the other all the time….
No idea how run got in there
I would have to agree with you. It’s not like Bama hasn’t signed players over the last couple of years where they’ve relocated entire families. Giving a guy a job is not something that would prevent them from recruiting a kid.
So, that’s what we’ve come to in the recruiting world. This kid’s a little scumbag that’s going to get some lucky school on probation.