You only need to listen to Chennis Berry speak for a few minutes to understand why he’s been a success in the coaching profession. The former head football coach at Benedict College was officially introduced at South Carolina State on Tuesday and made it clear that he’s ready to lead the Bulldogs.
“Ownership in this program, every time we were these colors, that logo never comes off,” Berry said during his press conference. “We’re not going to say hi; we’re not going to say bye; we’re going to say, ‘Go Bulldogs’! We won’t walk around the campus with anybody else’s apparel on; it’s going to be all about ‘Go Bulldogs’. That’s what it’s all about.”
Berry brings a wealth of HBCU coaching experience to Orangeburg, following a very successful stint with the Tigers in Columbia. In three seasons at Benedict, Berry amassed a 27–7 record, going undefeated in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference the last two seasons and reaching the D2 playoffs each year. He previously held assistant coaching positions at Morris Brown, Kentucky State, Fort Valley State, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, Howard, and Southern.
During his previous stops, Berry developed his own philosophy centered around the alphabet.
“Every day, our mission in our program will be to chase A’s, B’s, C’s, and D’s,” Berry explained. “A’s and B’s are non-negotiable in the classroom. Every young man in our program, we’re going to strive every day to be the best we can be in the classroom. C’s are championships, and that’s plural. I believe in winning. Winning on the field and winning off the field. And D’s are degrees. That’s what we’re going to go for every single day.”
Berry was introduced alongside SC State’s new athletics director, Dr. Nathan Cochran. An SC State alum, Cochran’s career spans 20 years as a collegiate administrator and a football and track and field coach, with nearly half of his experience with HBCUs. He returns to Orangeburg after serving as the AD at Walsh University in Canton, Ohio.