| HEAD FOOTBALL COACH /
DIRECTOR OF STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
Name:
Mark Henninger Office
Phone: 252.985.5179 E-mail:
mjhenninger@ncwc.edu
Mark
Henninger was named the second head coach in North
Carolina Wesleyan football history in February of
2008. In his first season at the helm of the
program, he led the Battling Bishops to a 6-4
overall record, including a 5-2 mark in the USA
South. Couple last year’s success with that of his
four years as defensive coordinator and Henninger
has already helped Wesleyan accumulate a 29-21
overall record and a 23-11 USA South mark since the
program’s inception.
Henninger
guided Wesleyan’s 2008 team to its third straight
season with at least five USA South Conference
victories. The 2008 season also saw the Battling
Bishops earn their conference record 12th
consecutive league victory, a streak that dated back
to the 2006 season. The first-year head coach had 14
players garner All-Conference recognition, including
a league-best eight First Team honorees and four
All-Region selections. Additionally, Wesleyan
produced a USA South Player of the Year for the
fifth straight season.
As an
assistant coach in 2007, Henninger played an
instrumental role in the Bishops’ storybook season
that saw Wesleyan became the first-ever undefeated
conference champion with a 7-0 league record. The
program also earned its first NCAA Tournament berth
and playoff win in 2007, becoming the first #8 seed
in history to knock off a #1 seed when the Bishops
upset Washington and Jefferson by a 35-34 score in
the first round.
In just five
years of existence, the program has produced 56
All-Conference players, two Defensive Rookies of the
Year, three Offensive Rookies of the Year, and two
Offensive Players of the Year. As an assistant,
Henninger helped take Wesleyan from unknown status
to a spot in the Division National III Top-25, while
as head coach, both of his preseason squads have
earned #18 rankings by the publishers of Lindy’s
2009 College Football Preview.
A native of
Indianapolis, IN, Henninger joined North Carolina
Wesleyan in 2004 after a four-year assistant
coaching stint at his alma mater, Wittenberg
University in Springfield, OH. The winningest
Division III football program in the nation,
Wittenberg produced three NCAA Division III playoff
appearances and a record of 41-7 during his tenure.
Prior to his
time at Wittenberg, Henninger spent one year as a
graduate assistant at Wartburg College in Waverly,
IA coaching the secondary. Wartburg finished the
season as conference champions, advancing to the
NCAA Division III playoffs with a record of 10-1.
In 1998,
Henninger was an assistant coach with the Hamburg
Blue Devils of Hamburg, Germany. The team finished
with a 15-3-1 record and the European Championship.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant
at Milikin University, a Division III school in
Decatur IL.
Henninger
received his bachelor’s degree in Accounting from
Wittenberg University in 1996 and was a four-year
letterwinner at safety for the Tigers. He and his
wife, Jen, reside in Rocky Mount with their two
children: son Jack and daughter Mary.
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