Tigers staying on Henderson

When Derrick Nix first arrived in Auburn, there was one target that Hugh Freeze told him they had to prioritize.

Nix was on the phone with the prospect at 7 a.m. the next morning. Not long after that, the offensive coordinator, along with Freeze and co-defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, made the trip to Elba, Ala., to visit with running back Alvin Henderson.

"Sitting there with Coach Nix, he was just letting me know," Henderson said. "He said that back in his day it was Bo Jackson. They told me a few years later it was Cam Newton. Now they’re hoping it’s me."

Henderson is one of the most sought after prospects in the nation, ranking as the No. 25 player in the country regardless of position. He's been pursued for years by top programs, but over those years, there have been changes on those coaching staffs that recruited him.

Auburn was not any different, as his primary recruiter, Carnell Williams, resigned weeks ago.

"At first I was shocked," Henderson said of the resignation. "But then I had to put it into perspective, like, obviously it’s gonna be Auburn without Coach [Williams], even though I love him...As I sat down on the phone with Coach Freeze, and as I got on the phone with Coach Nix and Coach Kelly, I was just like ‘I’m still considering Auburn."

The relationship with Kelly goes back Henderson's middle school days, when Kelly was still coaching at Alabama. In fact, it was Kelly who got Henderson his Alabama offer and continued to recruit him once he made the move to Colorado.

"This year he’s at Auburn and he pretty much told me, 'I’m kinda at the edge of my career, I may retire at Auburn and I wouldn’t want to retire knowing I recruited you hard for 3-4 years and I didn’t get to coach you," Henderson said.

He also held a meaningful conversation with Nix.

"Talking to him over the phone, sitting down in-person with him and my mom, and us talking, I feel like Coach Nix will most definitely be able to do the same thing and make the same impact on me that Coach [Williams] was gonna be able to do, too," Henderson said.

Ideally, Henderson would like to have a decision sometime in March, although nothing is for certain. He'd still like to visit some programs before the dead period ends Feb. 5, and visit some others in the spring before he comes to a decision.

"I want to give every school a fair chance," Henderson said. "It’s a lot of coaches that recruit me hard and I don’t want it to be a thing where coaches be like 'Dang, we invested in this dude but he didn’t give us in a chance."

Henderson is the No. 2 running back in the country and the No. 4 player in the state of Alabama.