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NORFOLK — It’s not quite full-blown celebrity treatment yet, but Jason Henderson does get recognized.
When the Old Dominion linebacker ventures out to support his fellow athletes at a campus sporting event, fans often stop to say hello. Some even ask him to pose for photos with them.
On a team whose accomplishments were limited last season, Henderson stands out as much as anyone. And rather than inflate his ego, the rising junior from Pennsylvania uses the encounters with admirers for just the opposite.
“It’s a humbling feeling,” Henderson said this week after the Monarchs’ fourth spring practice. “I worked to get to that point, and to be known like that, it’s a good thing. But it allows me to, honestly, feel like there are people looking up to me, and it allows me to keep my own head level and be more adaptive to what things are around me.”
It would be hard to blame Henderson for adapting an air of self-importance after what was, by any measure, a historic individual season in 2022.
As ODU sputtered to a disappointing 3-9 record, including losses in its final six games, Henderson kept piling up tackles at an unprecedented rate. A former championship-level wrestler in high school, Henderson led the nation with 186 tackles, the third-highest single-season total in FBS history.
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Perhaps even more impressive is that Henderson played in only 11 games and change. He left the Monarchs’ penultimate contest, at Appalachian State, with a leg injury in the final seconds of the first quarter and did not return until the following week.
Henderson had between 10 and a school-record 22 tackles in all 11 full games he played, leading the nation with an average of 15.5 per game. No other FBS player averaged more than 11.3.
The five players from around the nation immediately behind Henderson in tackles last season all played in at least 13 games. Had he played a full schedule, the single-season record of 193 tackles, set by Texas Tech’s Lawrence Flugence in 2002, would almost certainly have fallen.
Asked whether Henderson has raised his own bar as ODU prepares for the 2023 season, defensive coordinator Blake Seiler chuckled.
“Well, you always want to improve,” Seiler said. “When you set the bar that high, you’ve got to work even harder and harder.
“I know Jason’s got the same mentality as well, which is what makes him who he is. This ride that we’re on with him is going to be special to watch. We’re absolutely trying to smash that record. He’s got to own the all-time record by himself.”
In the age of the overactive transfer portal, Henderson is a throwback. Citing the fact that ODU has delivered on everything promised to him when he left high school, he reiterated that he plans to remain in Norfolk for the long haul.
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Unlike in wrestling, when he was alone with an opponent on the mat, Henderson has embraced the notion of being part of a team. It’s helped him socially to get to know teammates from as far away as Australia.
“Most teams, you’ll see a bunch of cliques where there’s groups and stuff,” Henderson said. “But on this team, there’s not much of that. It’s very family-oriented here, and everyone likes to be together.”
Henderson’s presence could loom even larger on a defense looking to replace key pieces, especially in the secondary.
Ballcarriers will be hard-pressed to reach the third level of ODU’s defense if Henderson continues to display the nose for the ball he showed last season.
“It’s in here,” Seiler said, pointing to his chest. “We talk about it all the time: It takes no talent to chase the football, and so that’s ingrained in who he is. It’s not something that we have to force him to do. I’ve been around players you have to force them to do that, to make those extra-effort plays. That’s who he is.”
And when the tackles start piling up again, even more people will know it.
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com. Twitter @DavidHallVP