CCU’s Henderson returning for final season

Coastal Carolina running back De’Angelo Henderson didn’t let the suspense mount or linger very long, announcing Monday that he will indeed return for his senior season with the Chanticleers.

The Chants’ all-time rushing leader had reached out to the NFL College Advisory Committee for an indication on where or if he may be drafted and also communicated with several other college programs about the potential to play his final season elsewhere as a graduate transfer.

In the end, though, he has decided to finish what he started at Coastal Carolina and reiterated several times that his heart was always in returning.

“I weighed all my options out and I decided to come back for my senior season here at Coastal Carolina, and I’m blessed and honored and fortunate to be in the position I’m in, to be with the players here and coaching staff. I’m just ready to start the 2016 season,” he said. “Through it all, my heart was here. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I wasn’t ready to make that leap yet either, so like I said, I’m just blessed to say I’m here again.”

Henderson holds program records for rushing yards (3,479), rushing attempts (538), yards per rush (6.47), all-purpose yards (4,210) and all-purpose yards per game (102.7), owns two of the top three single-season totals for both rushing and all-purpose yards in Chants history and needs just five rushing touchdowns to break that school record as well. Nationally, meanwhile, he holds the FCS record with touchdowns in 26 straight games.

With 1,749 combined rushing and receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns in 12 games this season, he finished 10th in the voting for the STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Year award and was named the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year.

“It’s a great opportunity for him in these situations to be able to examine all of his options, and at the end of the day we’re a much better program with him back there,” Chants offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said. “And it’s exciting not only for the guys on the team and the coaches but also for the fans in general to come out and watch him play another season.”

Henderson said he talked to “a few” other schools, not naming any names, and that he appreciated their time and interest. Having already graduated from Coastal Carolina prior to his junior season with a degree in recreation and sports management, he could have gone to an FBS program as a graduate transfer and played immediately.

Meanwhile, he also wanted to get a sense for what interest he might garner from NFL teams in the draft this spring. That answer was not so clear, he said.

“The NFL Advisory Committee, this is the first year they changed all their rules from previous years. This year they let you know if you’re a first-round pick, a second-round pick and if you’re not one of those they’ll tell you just to come back,” he explained. “I’m not a first-round pick and wasn’t a second-round pick either. I’m curious to know where exactly they would have had me at. In previous years they let you know all rounds, including undrafted free agent, but this year ... it’s either ‘first,’ ‘second’ or ‘come back’ and mine was ‘come back.’ So who knows where they had me at.”

But, as Henderson reiterated, he is at peace with his decision.

“I weighed everything out, and being here was in my heart. I couldn’t see myself anywhere else,” he said.

The final decision came over the weekend, he said, after talking about his options with his grandmother before having trouble sleeping that night.

“I went to sleep and I was tossing and turning and I woke up, and I didn’t know what was wrong, but I think God just put the message in me and told me I’m supposed to be here at Coastal. So I’m here and I’m excited,” he said.

Henderson also said the Coastal Carolina coaching staff as well as former Chants assistant coach Maurice Drayton, who is now the defensive coordinator for The Citadel, were helpful to him during the process.

Perhaps interesting to Coastal Carolina fans, Patenaude revealed that quarterback Alex Ross had some similar considerations to some degree last year before returning for his senior season.

“We always say that we’re always going to do what’s in the best interest of our guys, and we really believe that,” Patenaude said. “Coach [Joe] Moglia has said that from the beginning with any of our guys, and Alex Ross was in a situation last year where he was looking at different things and maybe had he not had a shoulder issue maybe he may have looked at it. From the beginning, Coach has always said if it’s in the best interest of the player we need to support it. ... But at the end of the day having him in the backfield makes me a lot better coach.”

A significant factor in Henderson’s desire to evaluate his potential options is that the Chants will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs next year as they begin a two-year transition to the FBS level. After four straight playoff appearances under Moglia, it will no doubt be strange next year for all associated with the program not having a chance at the postseason.

But Henderson said there is still plenty to play for, and especially after being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs this year, he won’t be lacking for motivation in 2016.

“The way we ended our season [this] year, I know that’s not how I want to leave my legacy, and that’s not how any of the guys coming back want to leave their legacy,” he said.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 1:06 PM with the headline "CCU’s Henderson returning for final season."