Notre Dame football lost its defensive back coach, Mike Mickens, to the NFL after Mickens took the Ravens job to be Jesse Minter’s defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach. With Mickens leaving, Marcus Freeman and the Irish were scrambling to replace their former defensive back coach before the Irish's revenge season.
Freeman went on to land a massive splash yesterday as the Irish ripped Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry away and will replace Mickens. Henry is set to join Chris Ash on defense as Freeman’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Notre Dame fans are stoked about the hire, as Henry has an impressive resume as a defensive back coach. Before he became the Fighting Illini defensive coordinator, he served as their defensive back coach during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Notre Dame has high expectations entering next season, and with the Irish adding Henry to lead its defensive backs, Notre Dame fans should feel even better. Here are three key stats that prove Aaron Henry was the perfect hire for Notre Dame football
Aaron Henry Coached elite NFL-caliber DBs
Notre Dame is expected to have an elite secondary in college football next season, and adding someone with Henry’s resume is a massive boost. One stat that shows this is from the 2022 season, when the Fighting Illini gave up the second-fewest passing yards per attempt. Illinois gave up just 5.6 yards per pass in their 8-5 2022 season, only behind the Iowa Hawkeyes, who gave up 5.4 yards per attempt, per Team Rankings.
Part of this elite secondary included the No. 5 overall draft pick Devon Witherspoon, No. 47 overall pick Jartavius Martin, and the No. 66 overall pick Sydney Brown in the 2023 NFL Draft. Notre Dame fans should feel confident that Leonard Moore and Christian Gray are playing under Henry because he has the resume to help them reach their potential.
He'll bring a ball-hawk defense to Notre Dame
Sticking with this dominant 2022 season for the Illinois defense, the Fighting Illini led the nation in interceptions with an impressive 24 picks. Henry ranked this unit among the best secondaries in college football, averaging nearly 2 interceptions per game, the most in the nation.
Illinois defense wasn’t just picking the offense off at a high rate, but their pass efficiency was the best at 92.64. This defense caused chaos under Henry, led by a ball-hawk secondary that Henry developed into an elite defense.  Sydney Brown went on to dominate under Henry, leading Illinois with six interceptions by himself, followed by Kendall Smith with five.
Aaron Henry's defense led the nation in points per game
Illinois' defense was dominant under Henry when he served as their defensive back coach, as his secondary was part of one of the best defenses in the nation. The Fighting Illini’s defense was top in the nation, giving up just 12.8 points per game, ranking No. 1 in college football in the 2022 season.
That season, the Illinois defense gave up 10 points or fewer in eight games and nine points or fewer in six games, including one game in which they shut out Chattanooga. They also went up against No. 3 Michigan on the road and gave up just 19 points, the fewest Michigan had scored all season, and the only time they scored 25 points or less.
Notre Dame is ranked as high as No. 1 in many experts' way-too-early rankings, and while some thought the loss of Mickens was worrisome, Freeman brought in someone with an impressive resume who has proven he can lead a dominant defense and develop his players into NFL-caliber players.