Chennis Berry makes passionate debut as South Carolina State football coach
Chennis Berry walked into Hugine Suites wearing a blue suit and maroon tie. His wife sat directly in front of him, smiling as the new South Carolina State head football coach prepared to make his first impression on the job.
Players, administrators and students in attendance rose to their feet as Berry walked to the lectern. He knew it was his moment — and he took advantage of it.
“Wow,” Berry quietly said as he took it all in. “What a humbling, amazing day.”
Berry took one more moment as a pause, then delivered a passionate speech.
He didn’t waste time getting into the details. He didn’t let anyone’s eyes stray away.
The SC State players in attendance leaned forward, locking their attention on Berry. A few nodded as Berry spoke on his philosophy, goals, coaching and playing style. Former head coach Buddy Pough led SC State for 21 years, retiring at the end of the 2023 season. Berry had the task of drawing Pough’s former players in, letting them know what was coming.
University president Alexander Conyers shared a story at the end of the press conference. He asked roughly 40 players what they wanted out of their new head coach. Their answers: instills discipline, is accountable, “a coach that understands the lives of young Black men.”
The silence in the room made it clear — the Bulldogs had their new leader.
“I look forward to doing everything that I can to encourage him,” Pough said. “To help him get through the good times and the bad.”
Berry spent four years at Division II Benedict College just 45 minutes away from SC State. But the Bulldogs’ program isn’t his first stop at a Division I FCS program. He spent seven seasons at Southern University as an assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, and positional spots at Howard University, North Carolina A&M, Morris Brown, Kentucky State and Fort Valley State.
In his last two seasons at Benedict, Berry led the Tigers to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and conference titles. They also made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Division II playoffs as the No. 1 seed in their region, the first time in program history the school made the postseason. (Benedict went 0-2 in those games.)
Berry was 27-7 overall at Benedict. Details of Berry’s contract at SC State weren’t immediately known, but he was believed to be a top candidate for the position. Pough earned $287,000 last season.
Chennis Berry’s plan
Berry developed his own reputation as the passionate and all-in style leader he demonstrated at the press conference. He took the time to share his gratitude for everyone down the line: the administration at SC State, Pough, administration at Benedict College, his fraternity brothers in attendance, his wife and children.
The list goes on.
He went down the line of everything he wanted to accomplish. Establishing a philosophy, what his vision is and how he’ll handle recruiting.
“You’ll probably hear a lot of acronyms for me, because that’s kind of how I remember things,” Berry said. “You have to be informed about what you’re expecting to accomplish.”
Berry spoke like he was giving a pregame speech before the national championship, clapping to emphasize different points. Pough, 70, sitting to Berry’s right, was smiling the entire time.
But Berry’s central focus on his speech was about developing SC State football. Using his acronyms, Berry broke down the alphabet of what developing the Bulldogs will look like with him leading the program.
“And in this game of life, the philosophy of the program, every day, our mission and our program will be to chase A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s.” Berry said. “Non-negotiable in the classroom, A’s and B’s. We will hold a standard for every young man in our program, we’re going to strive every day to be the best in class. C’s is championships. And that’s plural, championships.”
Long gone are shirts with other university logos, Berry said. The navy and maroon colors are all the head coach wants to see on his players.
“I’m big on pride,” Berry said. “And you got to have that so you’ve got to dig deep.”
Berry follows two head coaches who’ve won championships in Pough and Willie Jefferies. He recalled standing in front of championship banners, admiring his predecessors’ achievements. It’s time for him to add to the collection.
“To me, that’s the blue blood of college football, of HBCU football,” he said.
Berry concluded his 35-minute long speech with two points. While navigating the new era of college football, the transfer portal and NIL can and will be a challenge. Berry said he’ll plan on leaving the door to SC State open for anyone, whether they leave and return or walk through for the first time.
Then, he described himself as a mailman. He said it doesn’t matter what the weather is outside, what’s going on in the world or what’s happening at home. Every day, the mailman gets up and goes to work.
“The mailman has got to go to work,” Berry said. “So you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and get ready to put your feet to the ground. Like I tell our players, buckle up your chin strap, bite down on your mouthpiece and let’s get ready to rock and roll.”
The room erupted in thunderous applause. Berry shook Conyers and Pough’s hands.
He’d arrived at SC State.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 4:43 PM.
