West Chester’s Henshaw goes through internship with NFL team
By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
WEST CHESTER >> Despite growing up in a home on College Avenue, in the shadow of West Chester University and Farrell Stadium, Jason Henshaw got late start in football, and never really thought about coaching the sport until he volunteered at WCU not long after getting his college degree.
That was in 2012. But over the ensuing nine years, Henshaw decided it would be his life’s work, he’s moved up the coaching ranks, and is in Illinois right now interning for several weeks with the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
“The biggest thing about coaching to me is the relationship part,” Henshaw said. “I just love building rapport with the guys that I coach. It’s the most joyful thing I get out of the experience.”
Henshaw and three others joined the Bears in late July thanks to the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, and will be involved with the team’s training camp staff through Aug. 10.
“The program is an opportunity for minority coaches to gain experience with an NFL organization with hopes of earning a full-time job in the NFL someday,” Henshaw explained.
A defensive line coach at the University of Rochester, Henshaw flew to Chicago on July 23. A few days later, training camp began at Halas Hall, a facility named after former Bears’ coaching great George Halas, and located in suburban Lake Forest, Ill.
“I’ve just been sitting in and seeing how things operate at this level, and being a fly on the wall during staff meetings, and seeing how they game plan and prepare for opponents, practices and walk-throughs,” Henshaw said. “It’s been really insightful.”
On Aug. 3, Henshaw and his peers made a visit to Soldiers Field, the Bears’ home venue. A day earlier, he was on hand with the rest of the Bears’ players and coaches for a watch party for Olympic hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Her brother, Robert Quinn, is a linebacker for Chicago.
“His sister won the gold medal (representing Puerto Rico) in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and broke the world record,” Henshaw reported. “That was a great experience.
“It can be a little overwhelming at times just looking around and realizing some of the things that I’ve been able to experience. I have an ID that has my name on it, there was a locker full of Chicago Bears gear when I arrived, and even little things like walking downstairs and there is a refrigerator full of Gatorade.
“But the best thing is that the people here have been so welcoming. It’s been a really enjoyable experience.”
The 32-year-old played basketball and soccer as a youngster, but with help from his older brother, Tyrone, he finally convinced his mom, Doris, to let him play football at age 13 while attending Stetson Middle School. Henshaw’s father passed away when he was an infant.
“My Mom was not having me play football until I was a teenager,” he said.
“My brother was the one who kind of guided me to football. It’s just been the three of us for a long time.”
Henshaw went on to be a star lineman at West Chester Henderson, and after graduating in 2007, he went off to play college ball at Kutztown. He received his college degree in Speech Communication late in 2011, but was still pondering his career path.
“I was kind of trying to figure out what my next step was in terms of work,” he said. “That’s when I ended up volunteering at West Chester.”
Under head coach Bill Zwaan, Henshaw was with WCU through spring practice of 2012, and it was at this point that his gaze turned to coaching.
“After that I figured this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,”
When Joe Walsh retired as the head coach at Henderson, Henshaw joined the staff of his replacement, Steve Mitten, for the 2012 high school season. A year later he moved on to coach the defensive lineman at Widener. In 2019 he went to Division III Rochester.
While at West Chester and Widener, Henshaw got to know Bill Shuey, who was a defensive coach for both teams. In 2018, Shuey was hired as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears, and two years later he told Henshaw about the internship opportunity.
Henshaw completed the application in June of 2020, which included an essay.
“I kind of had an inside guy in Bill Shuey,” he said. “He was my defensive coordinator at Widener told me to get him a resume and fill out an application. I ended up being a finalist.”
Because of the pandemic, the 2020 internship was done remotely, but that changed this summer.
“I am just blessed to be out in Chicago in person this summer,” he said.
There have been many coaching role models for Henshaw over the years, but he pointed out three, in addition to Shuey: his line coach at Henderson, Steve Jenkins; his defensive coordinator while at Kutztown, Dennis Iezzi; and Chad Martinovich, the head coach at Rochester.
“Jenkins was kind of like a father figure who’s always been there for me,” he said. “I kind of picked up football later than most guys, so he taught me a lot of the foundational stuff.
“Iezzi is somebody I look up to and try to model after in terms of my coaching style. And (Martinovich) is allowing me to be here.
“I leave here on August 10th and the players report to camp on the 10th. So he gave me the opportunity to experience this. He’s done an awesome job of being supportive to me.”
Henshaw was a fan of the Washington Football team growing up, but he now acknowledges that his allegiance has changed.
“I am definitely going to follow the Bears from now on,” he said. “In just a week or so I’ve already built a lot of great relationships with these guys.
“My immediate goal is to go back and coach Rochester and have a great season. Ultimately I’d love to move up and someday be a coach in the NFL.”
