It took a long time for the universe to align but in 2022, Demarcus Ayers and Adam Henry were on the same side. Coaching together at Indiana University, Henry’s job was to develop the Hoosiers’ receivers. Unintentionally, he gave Ayers a PHD-level course in how to be a great coach.
Now, Henry lands in Pittsburgh, where Ayers once played. Inheriting an eventual new-look receiver room that will be counted on to make more plays in 2026 than it did in 2025, Henry’s role is vital. Ayers is confident Mike McCarthy made the right hire.
“A real down-to-earth guy, a guy that’s relatable,” Ayers told me in an interview earlier this week. “I think he gets the best out of his players because of how much he pours into them. He allows you to be yourself. He’s really gonna critique your game.”
Henry becomes one of the most experienced coaches on Pittsburgh’s 2026 staff. Though not “old” at 53, he’s been coaching receivers since 1997 after playing the position himself at McNeese State, where he earned a spot in the school’s Hall of Fame. He broke into the NFL in 2007 and save for a three-year stint at LSU where he coached Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry and his year at Indiana, he’s been in the big leagues since.
Henry followed Beckham to the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns and worked with Amari Cooper in Dallas under McCarthy. An impressive resume of players he’s developed, though he’ll be the last to brag.
“I remember walking in the first couple meetings,” Ayers says. “I’m just being humble, trying to soak it up and learn from a guy that’s coached Odell, Jarvis, Amari Cooper. All these guys. And I’m just amazed on how humble he was and just the type of person he was. His approach to things was as if he just got in the game and he was still hungry trying to get everybody to respect and know what he’s doing.”
Ayers never played under Henry. But their paths crossed on as Ayers hit tryout circuit in New York and Cleveland. After his playing days, Ayers spent time coaching in high school before spending 2021 at New Mexico. A job at Indiana opened up in 2022, an opportunity all the more enticing with Ayers’ younger brother, Cam Campers, considering the Hoosiers. Ayers took the job under the belief he’d be working with receivers coach Grant Heard.
That plan quickly changed when Heard left for another job. Henry was tabbed as his replacement with Ayers assisting him and Indiana’s receivers.
A quieter and even-keeled coach, Henry keeps drills interesting and applicable to realistic game situations. A stickler for details, an equally good start and finish are key.
“He’s really big on releases. Gotta be able to win at the line of scrimmage, ball get-off. So stance and starts. Not having any wasted movement at the top of the routes, being able to throw guys by,” Ayers said. “I think like the biggest thing I learned from him was just the way he makes drills translate to real 11 on 11 and one-on-one type of situations and games.
“You’ll have a release pretty much on every drill or some type of, even if it’s not a press release, like a free release throwing guys by at the top of the route with pads and simulating real guys. Real body types. Hand-eye coordination. He was really, really big on just tracking the ball over the shoulder, catching away from your body. That was a big thing. He’s really big on emphasizing being a hands catcher.”
Henry is considered a player’s coach. Someone just as comfortable talking about life as he is football. He’s a coach’s coach, too. Ayers has aspirations of one day becoming a positional coach, and Henry offered the chance to develop that skill set.
“He would let me run the meeting. He would let me run the individual drills. He would let me come up with developmental plans for guys. Or I take the inside receivers, he take the outside receivers. He was like, ‘You gotta do it. You gotta get real reps. You gotta learn how to mess it up to get it right.’”
Henry’s mentorship extended beyond the meeting him and to his personal residence.
“I’m in Bloomington, Indiana, but I don’t know anything about Bloomington, Indiana. Like, anything. And I’m out there with my fiancé at the time, and my daughter may have been 2 years old,” Ayers said. “We didn’t have any family, and I didn’t have a place to stay. He was staying, I think he had three or four months of a lease that he was in until he got his house. And so I stayed in that.
“Once he moved into his house and then I came back, my house wasn’t ready. Me and my family went to go live in his house with him and his wife. That’s just type of person. He would always have the guys over at the house.”
Together, Henry and Ayers navigated a tough 4-8 season up against a daunting Big Ten schedule. One high mark was a late-season double overtime win over Michigan State. Indiana won the Old Brass Spittoon. Each player and coach received special medals to commemorate the rivalry victory.
Both men found new roles in 2023. Henry returned to the NFL, hired by the Buffalo Bills as their receivers coach. Ayers became a quality control coach at North Texas. But the two still keep in touch and texted after Henry accepted the Pittsburgh job. He’ll work with DK Metcalf in his second year with the Steelers and likely some combination of free agent and draft picks to upgrade the room. Roman Wilson will enter a critical third season, needing to impress the team’s new decision makers. Henry’s job will be to manage it all.
One player Pittsburgh could consider during April’s draft is Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. His highlight-reel plays have primarily come the past two seasons, but it was Henry and Ayers who initially worked with him in 2022. Cooper hardly saw the field, dabbling as a kick returner, but coaches prepared him behind the scenes. Ayers isn’t surprised by his eventual success that could make him a top-50 draft pick.
“Adam doesn’t get a lot of credit for the development of Omar because he hasn’t coached in the past few years. But a lot of things that Omar’s doing now were the things that we were instilling in him as a true freshman,” Ayers said.
With strong route running, releases, and hands, Cooper looks like the right fit in Pittsburgh. Thanks to Henry, the Steelers may hold the edge in knowing his true background and ability to unlock him even more at the next level.
“Omar really trusted Adam. I think Omar gained a lot of confidence early on by just seeing how Adam worked and how intentional he was with the guys,” Ayers said. “And then me being a young coach, just sticking by his side, basically reemphasizing what Adam was saying every single day in his ear to give him that confidence.”
After two years at North Texas, Ayers is looking for his next job. A car accident he’s only recently recovered from put coaching on hold, but he’s drawing interest from all levels, college to NFL. It seems unlikely he’ll join Henry in Pittsburgh – not right now, anyway, But Ayers is confident Henry is the right man to lead the Steelers’ new group as one of McCarthy’s shrewdest hires.