As Last Chance U documented, Malik Henry had an up and down season at Independence Community College last fall. Henry had a short stay at Florida State after he transferred before playing in a game for the Seminoles. As of now, it looks like Henry has yet to receive a Division 1 offer. According to 247 Sports, Ole Miss offered Henry on October 13, 2017, but it looks to have fallen through. The Athletic’s Max Olson reported in December that Ole Miss was recruiting Henry after Shea Patterson transferred to Michigan. It is unclear how things exactly fell apart, but Ole Miss did sign a top 10 quarterback recruit in Matt Corral.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Henry was suspended by Florida State for a month of the pre-season. Henry would eventually lose the quarterback battle to Deondre Francois. Henry announced in December 2016 that he was transferring from Florida State in a statement to Noles 247.
I have decided to transfer from Florida State University. I want to thank Coach Fisher and his staff for giving me the opportunity to be a student athlete at FSU. I wish him and the team nothing but success. At this time I don’t know what University I will be attending in the future.
During the docu-series, Henry remained vague on what exactly happened in Tallahassee. Henry did open up about his battle with depression, and cited it as one of the reasons his short tenure at Florida State did not go as planned. Henry was shown on the show often clashing with coaches at Independence, but the quarterback took to Twitter to clear up his relationship with head coach Jason Brown.
“Some might not understand, our relationship was different than most. Listen to the message and not the tone. Father son type @INDYHEADCOACH1 #BuiltDifferent,” Henry tweeted.
According to Henry’s Twitter profile, he is in Inglewood, California. Videos like the one below show Henry working out during the summer.
Great to catch up and see my guy @malik_henry16 coach up young QBs last night. Leading by example in the community. Keep working big dawg! 👊🏽Yee yee! #hardworkpaysoff
Henry was once a five-star recruit heading into Florida State, but 247 Sports now has Henry downgraded to a three-star. ESPN rated Henry as an 88 (four-star), and had him ranked 17th on their top 300 list. Here’s how ESPN described Henry coming out of Long Beach.
Henry is blessed with natural physical tools and arm talent. He is a passer who happens to be a more than effective athlete. His skill set would allow for him to play in just about any scheme. Lack of physical maturation due to bulk and strength make for a very high ceiling for development which excites coaches at this stage. Is a national prospect that will be coveted by power five premier programs. This is an exciting player with a lot of tools to mold.
Last Chance U Quarterbacks Have Struggled to Find Success
It is worth noting that all three seasons of Last Chance U featured quarterbacks tied to Florida State. The first season featured John Franklin III who transferred to EMCC from Florida State. Franklin went on to play quarterback at Auburn, before transferring to FAU then going undrafted. After a brief stint at the Seahawks mini-camp, Franklin signed a contract with the Bears, per NBC Sports Chicago. Franklin is looking to make it in the NFL as safety rather than quarterback.
“Yeah, even the guys on the team come up to me when I walk around and are like, you were on that show,” Franklin explained to NBC Sports Chicago. “I hear that literally two or three times a day, literally every day.”
De’Andre Johnson also transferred to EMCC from Florida State after a video surfaced of Johnson punching a woman. Johnson accepted an offer from FAU, but failed to make an impact on the team in his first season. Johnson was forced to shutdown his season after undergoing emergency surgery for blood clots in his arm, but is now back on the field battling for the starting quarterback position.
“After that, a few plays later, it started hurting me,” Johnson told the Palm Beach Post. “I knew something just didn’t feel right. Turns out I had a blood clot. It affected my playing time and I wasn’t able to compete. But, then again, I’m just trying to focus on getting healthy and getting back to playing ball.”
