Parker Henry, from walk-on to starter at Washington State

Four years later, Henry has earned a scholarship and will start on defense when the Cougars face Miami in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 26. The redshirt junior ranks fourth on the team with 69 tackles.

Henry took the road less traveled to becoming a starter on a Pac-12 football team. His journey shows the power of a dream when someone is willing to work tirelessly for it.

“If he were in the military, he’d be a Navy SEAL or a Green Beret,” said Steve Kizer, Henry’s coach at Skyview. “That’s just the kind of kid he is. Whatever he does, he wants to do it at the highest level.”

Stories of Henry’s workouts still echo off the walls of the Skyview weight room. Kizer said he has never seen a player throw iron around like Henry did his senior year, when he rushed for 2,191 yards and 31 touchdowns.

“You had to be careful what you’d tell him to do because he’d do it,” Kizer said. “If you said ‘go run that hill 1,000 times,’ he’d find a way to do it.”

Henry was The Columbian’s All-Region player of the year and selected to the Associated Press, Seattle Times and Tacoma News Tribune all-state teams. But at 5-foot-11, 205 pounds and a running style built more on physicality than speed, he wasn’t high on many college recruiting lists.

Henry received scholarship offers from Southern Oregon and Montana Tech, both NAIA programs, and a partial offer from Division II Central Washington. Sure, he could go one of those schools, have school paid for and maybe play right away.

But ever since he began playing football in third grade, Henry envisioned himself suiting up in The Palouse, Husky Stadium or another Division-I venue.

If he hoped to get on the field as a walk-on at a Pac-12 school, he’d have to impress coaches who rarely pay attention to non-scholarship players. He’d have to be willing to play any position and embrace an unglamorous role on special teams or the scout team.

But Kizer believed if any player could travel that rocky road, it was Henry.

“I usually tell kids to go play where they’re wanted,” Kizer said. “If a small school is offering you a scholarship, that’s where you should go. But Parker is the only kid I’ve told ‘go walk on and you’ll eventually earn a scholarship.’ ”

That summer, Kizer and Henry got in touch with the coaching staff of new head coach Mike Leach. Henry received an invitation to walk on, but that didn’t guarantee any perks. During his first practices in Pullman, coaches called Henry by his number because they didn’t know his name.

These days, WSU coaches still don’t call Henry by his name. They now refer to him as “Bulldog” because of his tenacity and hard-hitting attitude.

That toughness immediately impressed WSU’s coaches. Though he was among the smallest of the group, Henry was moved into the linebacker corps.

Henry found the adjustment to be easier than he thought. The same take-no-prisoners mindset he had when carrying the ball applied when hunting down a ball carrier.

“Even when I used to play offense, I would run with aggression,” Henry said. “I’m a pretty calm person most of the time, so it’s a good outlet for me.”

After redshirting for a year, Henry saw his first game action on special teams.

As a redshirt sophomore, he again only played on special teams. But he was starting to have more of an impact, especially in practice. He made seven tackles that season and was named a captain for WSU’s game against Arizona.

Last spring, Henry’s hard work was rewarded with a scholarship. Still, he was too small to be a typical linebacker and too slow to be a defensive back.

But as Henry kept knocking pads in practice, opportunity opened its door. First-year defensive coordinator Alex Grinch brought the unusual idea of using a nickel back, a hybrid position that needed to be physical enough to stop the run and quick enough to help in pass coverage.

That position fit Henry perfectly. He started the season as No. 2 on the depth chart and made his first start in WSU’s third game against Wyoming.

By WSU’s fifth game, Henry made people take notice. With dozens of friends and family in Autzen Stadium, Henry had eight tackles as the Cougars beat Oregon in double overtime in Eugene.

The following week, Henry had nine tackles against Oregon State. His best game came against No. 8 Stanford on Oct. 31, when Henry had a team-high 10 tackles, one interception and an apparent interception return for a touchdown that was overturned on review.

Though he dreamed of playing in the Pac-12, reality has been more than Henry imagined.

“I just wanted to get on the field any way possible, whether it was on defense, special teams or wherever,” Henry said. “But honestly, if you had told me that I’d be starting at defensive back in the Pac-12, I’d have said you were nuts.”