Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen was
schooled by his father in high school , went to a mid-major conference team (UMass) and became a four-year starter. That's exactly the path that undrafted free agent
rookie quarterback Seth Henigan has taken to get his chance with the Jaguars: coached by his father Dave Henigan at Denton (Texas) Ryan High School, then on to Memphis, where he became the first true freshman in school history to start in week one, eventually
leading the Tigers to three bowl victories (he was the MVP in two) and a 39-16 record as a four-year starter. He threw for 14,278 yards, 104 touchdowns and only 31 interceptions, and scored 10 touchdowns running. A coincidence? Well, Coen admitted that he didn't know that much about Henigan's background until
former NFL coach Jon Gruden sent Coen a text after doing one of his
"QB Class" videos on YouTube , in which Gruden works with various young quarterbacks coming out of college. Gruden clearly liked a lot about Henigan. "Seth Henigan is the finisher. He started and stayed at Memphis. I like that," Gruden said in the introduction to his video with Henigan. "He's a polished quarterback. You just see a lot of hidden plays that are hard to describe but this cat knows how to get it done in the pocket. This is very important to him. This is what he loves to do." Coen said on May 10 after the Jaguars rookie minicamp practice at the Miller Electric Center that any quarterback Gruden recommends is worth a look. "Still getting to know him ... and I’ll be honest, hadn’t watched a ton of his tape before we ended up bringing him in," Coen said. "Once we did, I got to talk to him. Jon Gruden actually hit me up about him. Shot me a text, I think they spent some time together during the offseason. You can definitely see the coach’s kid mentality."
Seth Henigan relishes being underrated
Here's something else about Henigan's mentality: he loves proving people wrong. Henigan wasn't highly recruited out of Denton's Ryan High School, despite leading his team to a 44-2 record, a 5A state championship as a senior and throwing for 7,234 yards, 79 TDs and 14 interceptions (after replacing his injured brother Ian and never relinquishing the job). Henigan's Plan B was Harvard (Henigan had a 4.9 GPA in high school), from an academic standpoint, but aside from
Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield (a Bolles graduate), the only college coaching staff who showed much interest in Henigan was from Nevada. "It carries over, the adversity throughout my life," Henigan said after splitting snaps during the rookie minicamp practice with another undrafted rookie, Kinkead Dent of Tennessee-Martin. "It started being under-recruited, the transition to Memphis, and my college experience will help transition to The League [NFL]." Silverfield believed that Henigan deserved to be drafted. But when seven rounds came and went and no phone call came, he got his next best wish: Henigan playing for Silverfield's hometown NFL team. "It surprised me that he didn't get drafted," Silverfield said. "But I was born and raised in Jacksonville and I'm thrilled he ended up here. I hope he's here for a long time. He has the ability."
Seth Henigan got attention for beating FSU
Henigan based part of his hopes to be drafted on a good Senior Bowl week. He then threw the winning touchdown pass to Jack Bech on the last play of the game. He also got national attention for taking the Tigers into Tallahassee and beating Florida State in week three, completing 25 of 38 attempts for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Henigan extended his streak of throwing at least one TD pass to 40 games against the Seminoles, then made it 41 the following week against Navy to tie Marcus Mariota for the second-longest streak in NCAA FBS history (it ended the next game against Middle Tennessee). Some might say Henigan and Memphis got FSU during
one of its worst seasons in decades. The 'Noles went 2-10 but Henigan isn't assigning any style points to the accomplishment. "When Florida State is a powerhouse again, I can tell people little bitty Memphis beat FSU back in the day," he said. "They're still a blue-chip program so being able to say we got a win in Tallahassee is pretty cool."
Battling in a crowded QB room
It's not going to be easy for Henigan. The Jaguars will keep three, possibly four quarterbacks at the most on the active roster and practice squad. The Alpha Dog in the quarterback room obviously is
fifth-year starter Trevor Lawrence . But behind him is
John Wolford (entering his seventh NFL season) and
Nick Mullens (ninth). That's a combined 21 years of pro experience ahead of Henigan. Understandably, Silverfield will defend his guy. But he said Henigan's main attributes won't have anything to do with his size (6 feet, 3, 215 pounds) or arm strength (which he said improved every year at Memphis). "Without a shadow of a doubt, he will be the smartest rookie quarterback in the NFL," Silverfield said. "He'll be prepared. He came to us as a mature 17-year freshman, understood the playbook and went to work. He has a football acumen beyond his years. He has the ability to process things, understands coverages and makes efficient plays." Henigan said he will play to those strengths as an NFL quarterback. "What gives me confidence is my preparation and my fundamentals," he said. "I know how to throw the football and I have good football intelligence. I think I have great location and accuracy and make the right checks. Hopefully, that will carry over into my career."
Liam Coen sees good early signs
It was only the second rookie minicamp practice so no one will be judged on that small slice of work. But Coen still likes what he sees out of Henigan. "He did a great job of calling the plays and having the command," Coen said. "We weren’t just out there calling one play. We were canning plays, two play calls, he was handling all that stuff well. So, time will tell, but definitely a good day to start off with.” Henigan said Coen has high expectations from the beginning, which is likely good in the long run, considering the mountain Henigan has to climb just to make the roster. "He's been coaching me really hard these first two days," Henigan said of Coen. "I'm grateful to have a coach who wants to coach me because I want to be coached, I want to get better. Having him as my head coach is definitely a blessing."
