Rutgers coach Chris Ash is set to make his first hire on the defensive side of the ball, tabbing Aaron Henry as assistant defensive backs coach, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Rutgers announced Henry's hire on Monday afternoon.

Henry will be one of the nine full-time assistant coaches. Ash will also hire another defensive backs coach, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Henry, 26, has spent the past two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant at Arkansas. He worked with the secondary, primarily the cornerbacks, at Arkansas.

Before getting into coaching, Henry played safety at Wisconsin from 2007-11. Ash was an assistant at Wisconsin during Henry's final two seasons, serving as the defensive backs coach in 2010 and the defensive backs coach/defensive coordinator in 2011.

Henry appeared in 52 games and made 32 starts, compiling 181 tackles, including seven tackles for loss with 4.5 sacks, seven interceptions and 23 passes defended during his career at Wisconsin. The Immokalee, Fla., native was an All-Big Ten first-team selection as a senior. He was a key contributor on back-to-back Big Ten champions in his final two seasons at Wisconsin. Henry was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.

Henry has been on the staff of head coach Bret Bielema at Arkansas for the past two seasons. Ash was on Bielema's staff for three seasons at Wisconsin and one season at Arkansas.

Henry failed to catch on in the NFL after college and he spent 2013 working in substitute teaching, real estate and landscape maintenance, in multiple states, according to a 2014 story in the Naples Daily News.

Henry will be the fifth full-time assistant hired by Ash since he took over as Rutgers' head coach on Dec. 5. Henry will join offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, special teams coordinator Vince Okruch, offensive line coach A.J. Blazek and wide receivers coach Zak Kuhr.

Okruch, who has extensive experience on the defensive side of the ball as an assistant, is expected to coach a position in addition to his special teams duties. The final four assistant spots are expected to be filled by a defensive coordinator, a defensive backs coach, a defensive line coach and a running backs coach.

Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.