During South Carolina State University’s first team meeting under newly hired coach Chennis Berry, he showed his team a PowerPoint presentation with a picture of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, where the Bulldogs took home the 2021 Cricket Celebration Bowl title .

To most, reaching the Celebration Bowl was a lofty goal for a first-year head coach with a brand-new roster comprised mostly of Division II football transfers from Benedict College, Berry’s former institution, and a program emerging from back-to-back losing seasons is . Berry, however, had the end goal in mind.

He never mentioned Atlanta again after that first meeting, but a little more than a year after he was hired, South Carolina State (9-2 overall, 5-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) will make its second appearance in the Celebration Bowl. The Bulldogs will face Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Jackson State University on Saturday.

“We just want to do better,” Berry said Sunday at a Celebration Bowl news conference. “That’s kind of our philosophy. Our thing is, the separation is in the preparation. We have to make sure that when we come to work we have a 1-0 mentality. Anyone who knows me knows that we just want to win today. Obviously we had to fall in love with the process rather than the result.”

Berry credits Southern’s faith and philosophy of falling in love with the process of becoming a better man, on and off the field, as the driving force behind his success at all of the historically black colleges and universities where he has coached University to Benedict and now South Carolina State.

As offensive coordinator at Southern University, Berry won a SWAC championship in his first season in 2013. Berry also won back-to-back Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships and two conference Coach of the Year awards as head coach at Benedict.

South Carolina State’s victory over Norfolk State on November 23 to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship gave the program its 19th conference championship and MEAC Coach of the Year honors for Berry, making his name Joins the list of successful South Carolina state coaches including Willie Jeffries, Bill Davis and Buddy Pough who have received similar honors.

“(South Carolina State) is no stranger to winning championships. They have been dominant for a long time, so the family tree is already there. It’s my job to come in and put my stamp on it,” Berry said. “When I got here, I really wanted to make sure I continued to build on the traditions and the things they did well.”

Berry methodically built South Carolina State’s football program. He began by addressing weaknesses in the squad and adding reinforcements in several different positions. He also retained three members of Pough’s coaching staff and added other coaches who fit his vision for the program.

“I want different ideas, but men with common values. … They have to treat my players right,” Berry said. “You must love her as much as I love her. You have to coach them in our culture.”

Berry not only wanted to recruit top talent, but also a coaching staff that also knew how to develop players. He tells his coaching staff every day that turning good players into great players is the difference between good and great coaches.

Agreement between players and coaches was also high on Berry’s priority list.

“As a head football coach, my job is to get buy-in from our staff, and then you have to get buy-in from the young men and our coaches,” Berry said.

“It’s about us making sure we put our young men in a position to be successful and that they get going and taking action.”

Berry Strong values ​​the trust and relationships he builds with his players. Those bonds are why quarterback Eric Phoenix, wide receiver Caden High and several other Benedict players felt comfortable following Berry to South Carolina State.

“You always get the same Coach Berry,” High said. “It will never be a bad day with him. That’s just someone you can commit to as a player. At the end of the day, football will be football for him and he will already be ready to train and be who he is.”

Berry keeps his faith at the forefront and begins his coaches’ meetings with prayer. Berry prefers gospel music in the mornings on a playlist that includes the Mississippi Mass Choir and Mahalia Jackson.

When Los Angeles Rams cornerback Cobie Durant, the 2021 Celebration Bowl defensive MVP, returned to his alma mater for homecoming in October, he was impressed with the Bulldogs’ leadership under Berry. He also believed South Carolina State would be special this season after the Bulldogs narrowly lost to reigning Celebration Bowl champion Florida A&M University earlier in the season.

“The atmosphere is a little different there,” Durant said. “I just said to some of my homeboys on the sidelines, ‘Man, I wish I only had a year to play for this coaching staff,’ because of how engaged they were with the fans. He has a rah-rah style. He has more enthusiasm.”

USC defensive analyst Skyler Jones worked with Berry at Southern from 2015-17. Berry was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator and Jones was a graduate assistant before being promoted to defensive line coach. Jones described Berry as a godly man who loves his players more than anything but is not afraid to push them to be better men.

Berry’s immediate success at his coaching stops didn’t surprise Jones.

“Coach Berry, his energy is contagious. His energy makes me want to run through a wall for him. Not only is he a coach, but (also) he’s a pastor (and) he’s a teacher,” Jones said. “He’s always trying to find ways to push you forward, to make you the best version of yourself. … He’s a conference champion, and just talking to him doesn’t get the job done. It’s not just about playing in the Celebration Bowl – he wants to win it.”

Pough and Berry were offensive linemen in college and previously offensive line coaches. The two further got to know each other while Berry was at Benedict’s. He gave several speeches at a touchdown club in South Carolina of which Pough was a member.

Pough said Berry’s methods, techniques, play-calling and coaching style convinced him before his retirement that Berry was the right choice as his successor and would continue South Carolina State’s legacy of success, which under Pough includes two Black college national championships .

Berry and Pough spoke occasionally during the preseason and regular season, with Pough serving as a resource for Berry.

“If you do everything you’re supposed to do over and over again, at that point it becomes second nature, man. That’s his whole thing,” Pough said. “We hired him because of who he is and what he does. He just has to keep doing it the way he’s been doing it.”

In the two weeks since the Bulldogs’ last football game, South Carolina State has refocused on the fundamentals of football, working on contention and studying film at Southern University and Jackson State while awaiting the outcome of the SWAC Championship game awaits.

After Jackson State’s win, Berry and his team are ready to take on a balanced Tigers offense. With coaching experience in the MEAC and SWAC, Berry is confident his team knows what to do to leave Atlanta with a Celebration Bowl victory on Saturday.

“Don’t turn the football over,” Berry said. “Win the penalty battle, win the effort battle, win the turnover battle, win the explosive battle, and if you feel like you win all four battles, you have a chance to win the football game.”