View source for Dan Henning

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1942)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Dan Henning
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|6|21}}
| birth_place = [[The Bronx|Bronx, New York]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| alma_mater = 
| player_years1 = 1961–1963
| player_team1 = [[William & Mary Tribe football|William & Mary]]
| player_years2 = 1964, 1966–1967
| player_team2 = [[San Diego Chargers]]
| player_positions = [[Quarterback]]
| coach_years1 = 1968–1970
| coach_team1 = [[Florida State Seminoles football|Florida State]] (assistant)
| coach_years2 = 1971
| coach_team2 = [[Virginia Tech Hokies football|Virginia Tech]] ([[Offensive coordinator|OC]])
| coach_years3 = 1972
| coach_team3 = [[Houston Oilers]] (QB)
| coach_years4 = 1973
| coach_team4 = [[Virginia Tech Hokies football|Virginia Tech]] (OC)
| coach_years5 = 1974
| coach_team5 = [[Florida State Seminoles football|Florida State]] (OC)
| coach_years6 = 1976–1978
| coach_team6 = [[New York Jets]] (WR)
| coach_years7 = 1979–1980
| coach_team7 = [[Miami Dolphins]] (QB/WR)
| coach_years8 = 1981–1982
| coach_team8 = [[Washington Redskins]] (OC)
| coach_years9 = 1983–1986
| coach_team9 = [[Atlanta Falcons]]
| coach_years10 = 1987–1988
| coach_team10 = [[Washington Redskins]] (OC)
| coach_years11 = 1989–1991
| coach_team11 = [[San Diego Chargers]]
| coach_years12 = 1992–1993
| coach_team12 = [[Detroit Lions]] (OC)
| coach_years13 = 1994–1996
| coach_team13 = [[Boston College Eagles football|Boston College]]
| coach_years14 = 1997
| coach_team14 = [[Buffalo Bills]] (OC)
| coach_years15 = 1998–1999
| coach_team15 = [[New York Jets]] (QB)
| coach_years16 = 2000
| coach_team16 = [[New York Jets]] (OC)
| coach_years17 = 2002–2006
| coach_team17 = [[Carolina Panthers]] (OC)
| coach_years18 = 2008–2010
| coach_team18 = [[Miami Dolphins]] (OC)
| overall_record = 38–73–1 (NFL)<br>16–19–1 (college)
| bowl_record = 1–0
| tournament_record = 
| championships = 
| awards = 
| coaching_records = 
}}
'''Daniel Ernest Henning, ''' (born June 21, 1942) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player and coach.  A [[quarterback]], he played [[college football]] for the [[William & Mary Tribe football|William & Mary Tribe]] before playing professionally for the [[San Diego Chargers]] of the [[American Football League]] (AFL) in 1966.  Henning served as a head coach in the  [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[Atlanta Falcons]] (1983–1986) and the Chargers (1989–1991).  He was the head football coach at [[Boston College]] from 1994 to 1996.  Henning then returned to the NFL as an [[offensive coordinator]] for the [[Buffalo Bills]] in 1997. After [[Pro Football Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] coach [[Marv Levy]] retired, reportedly partially due to his reluctance to fire Henning, Henning left Buffalo.

==Coaching career==
While the head coach of [[Boston College]], Henning discovered a major sports betting scandal among his own players, the second major gambling scandal to affect Boston College athletics in less than 20 years.  It had been an open secret that football players were gambling, even though NCAA rules bar ''any'' form of gambling by student-athletes.  However, after a 45-17 thumping at the hands of [[Syracuse Orange football|Syracuse]] on October 26, 1996, Henning heard rumors that players were betting against their own team.  At a team meeting later that week, Henning asked anyone who was involved in gambling to stand up.  No one did so.  After the Eagles lost a close game to [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] a week later—one in which they were 11-point favorites—an irate Henning demanded that anyone involved in gambling come forward.  At a players-only meeting two days later, anywhere from 25 to 30 players admitted gambling, but the five that the captains suspected of betting against their own team failed to own up.  Henning notified university officials of his suspicions, and they were concerned enough to call in [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts|Middlesex County]] district attorney [[Thomas Reilly (Massachusetts politician)|Thomas Reilly]], who launched an investigation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1009060/index.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130824201648/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1009060/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 24, 2013|title=Dark Days at BC|last=Callahan|first=Gerry|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=November 18, 1996}}</ref>

The resulting inquiry resulted in the suspension of 13 players for the final three games of the season, and eight of them never played another down for the Eagles again. With the effects of the scandal and a 16–19–1 record after three seasons, Henning retired at the end of the 1996 season.<ref name=ESPNgambling>{{cite web|author=Jeff Merron|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron/060207|title=Biggest Sports Gambling Scandals|work=ESPN.com|date=June 2, 2007|access-date=January 14, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330035814/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=merron%2F060207|archive-date=March 30, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1997/Jul-25-Fri-1997/sports/5778474.html |title=Boston College continues to sort out mess from gambling scandal |date=July 25, 1997}}</ref>

Henning had two stints as the offensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins (1981–82, 1987–88). He won two Super Bowl rings during this time.

He was the offensive coordinator for the [[Carolina Panthers]] from 2002 until January 2007. Henning helped lead his team to the [[Super Bowl]] after the 2003 season. After the 2005 season in which the Panthers returned to the NFC Championship game, they were considered Super Bowl contenders in 2006. However, the offense struggled due to injuries and what critics deemed conservative play-calling by Henning, resulting in an 8–8 season and his firing.<ref name="SeattlePI">{{cite news|author=Mike Cranston|year=2007|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/football/2020AP_FBN_Panthers_Henning_Fired.html|title=Panthers fire coordinator Dan Henning|publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|access-date=February 9, 2008}} {{Dead link|date=January 2012|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref>

In 2008, Henning was named offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, throwing wrinkles in the offense which put [[Ronnie Brown]] as quarterback leading to a 38–13 win at the New England Patriots.<ref name="dolphins">{{cite news |url=http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/776577,CST-SPT-nflnt05.article |title=Judge: Vick can keep bonus |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date=February 5, 2008 |access-date=February 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210024015/http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/776577%2CCST-SPT-nflnt05.article |archive-date=February 10, 2008 }}</ref> His implementation of the "[[Wildcat offense|Wildcat]]" and [[Single-wing formation|single-wing]] offense, which he had previously used in Carolina with [[DeAngelo Williams]], was covered heavily by the media, and soon adopted by several other NFL teams in 2008 and 2009.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gantt|first=Darin|url=https://www.thestate.com/sports/article14359541.html|title=Panthers coach Fox: Father of the Wildcat offense|newspaper=[[The State (newspaper)|The State]]|date=November 22, 2009|access-date=December 25, 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
His son, Dan, played college football as a quarterback at [[Maryland Terrapins football|Maryland]] under head coach [[Bobby Ross]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120723171856/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/timesdispatch/access/620168161.html?dids=620168161:620168161&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+23,+1986&author=Jerry+Lindquist&pub=Richmond+Times+-+Dispatch&desc=ROSS'+POST+WITH+BILLS+CONTINGENT&pqatl=google ROSS' POST WITH BILLS CONTINGENT], ''The Richmond Times'', December 23, 1986.</ref> His brother, [[John Henning (journalist)|John Henning]] was a long time Boston news reporter.<ref>{{cite news |first=Joe |last=Fitzgerald |title=John Henning Tackles the Issues |work=Boston Herald |date=1994-03-05 |page=45 }}</ref>

==Head coaching record==
===College===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = both }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Boston College Eagles football|Boston College Eagles]]
 | conf      = [[Big East Conference (1979–2013)|Big East Conference]]
 | startyear = 1994
 | endyear   = 1996
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1994 NCAA Division I-A football season|1994]]
 | name         = [[1994 Boston College Eagles football team|Boston College]]
 | overall      = 7–4–1
 | conference   = 3–3–1
 | confstanding = 5th
 | bowlname     = [[1994 Aloha Bowl|Aloha]]
 | bowloutcome  = W
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = 22
 | ranking2     = 23
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | year         = [[1995 NCAA Division I-A football season|1995]]
 | name         = [[1995 Boston College Eagles football team|Boston College]]
 | overall      = 4–8
 | conference   = 4–3
 | confstanding = T–4th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 
 | championship = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | year         = [[1996 NCAA Division I-A football season|1996]]
 | name         = [[1996 Boston College Eagles football team|Boston College]]
 | overall      = 5–7
 | conference   = 2–5
 | confstanding = 6th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = 
 | ranking2     = 
 | championship = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Boston College
 | overall    = 16–19–1
 | confrecord = 9–11–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 16–19–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = two
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

===NFL===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular Season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Won !!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Result
|-
![[1983 Atlanta Falcons season|ATL]]||[[1983 NFL season|1983]]
|7||9||0||{{winpct|7|9}}||4th in NFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1984 Atlanta Falcons season|ATL]]||[[1984 NFL season|1984]]
|4||12||0||{{winpct|4|12}}||4th in NFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1985 Atlanta Falcons season|ATL]]||[[1985 NFL season|1985]]
|4||12||0||{{winpct|4|12}}||4th in NFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1986 Atlanta Falcons season|ATL]]||[[1986 NFL season|1986]]
|7||8||1||{{winpct|7|8|1}}||3rd in NFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|ATL Total ||22||41||1||{{winpct|22|41|1}}|| || – || – || – ||
|-
![[1989 San Diego Chargers season|SD]]||[[1989 NFL season|1989]]
|6||10||0||{{winpct|6|10}}||5th in AFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1990 San Diego Chargers season|SD]]||[[1990 NFL season|1990]]
|6||10||0||{{winpct|6|10}}||4th in AFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
![[1991 San Diego Chargers season|SD]]||[[1991 NFL season|1991]]
|4||12||0||{{winpct|4|12}}||5th in AFC West|| – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|SD Total ||16||32||0||{{winpct|16|32}}|| || – || – || – ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total ||38||73||1||{{winpct|38|73|1}}||colspan="5"|
|}

==See also==
* [[List of American Football League players]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{William & Mary Tribe quarterback navbox}}
{{Atlanta Falcons coach navbox}}
{{Atlanta Falcons general manager navbox}}
{{San Diego Chargers coach navbox}}
{{Boston College Eagles football coach navbox}}
{{Super Bowl XVII}}
{{Super Bowl XXII}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henning, Dan}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American Football League players]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Atlanta Falcons head coaches]]
[[Category:Boston College Eagles football coaches]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bills coaches]]
[[Category:Carolina Panthers coaches]]
[[Category:Detroit Lions coaches]]
[[Category:Florida State Seminoles football coaches]]
[[Category:Houston Oilers coaches]]
[[Category:Miami Dolphins coaches]]
[[Category:NFL offensive coordinators]]
[[Category:New York Jets coaches]]
[[Category:San Diego Chargers players]]
[[Category:San Diego Chargers head coaches]]
[[Category:Players of American football from the Bronx]]
[[Category:St. Francis Preparatory School alumni]]
[[Category:Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches]]
[[Category:Washington Redskins coaches]]
[[Category:William & Mary Tribe football players]]