HBCU Coaches Speak: Chennis Berry Talks Bulldogs Raising The Bar, Teamwork, & Culture

Coach Berry dives into his philosophy on building leaders within a new team and emphasizes the importance of raising the bar for everyone at South Carolina State.

Chennis Berry - Coaches Speak Day 8 | SCS Athletics

The Dogs Days of Summer are hitting hard in Orangeburg, South Carolina, for Coach Chennis Berry and the 2024 MEAC Football Champions. The Bulldogs' head coach concluded Day 8 of summer practice for his team on Wednesday.

He spoke to reporters and shared his philosophy on building leaders within a new team, emphasizing the importance of raising the bar for everyone—because, as he reminds us, "Each of us needs all of us!”

Top 3 Takeaways From Day 8

• Leadership Starts at Every Level: Coach Berry emphasized that "You don't have to be the best player to be a leader." True leadership is about setting the standard and leading from the front, regardless of your title.
• Together, Everyone Achieves More: The philosophy behind the program is centered on collective success. "It’s not about the offense, not about the defense, not about the special teams. It's about the team." This focus on unity and shared purpose is something every organization can strive for.
• Coach-Led, Player-Driven: One standout moment was hearing how Coach Berry encourages players to find their voice and drive the team culture: "At the end of the day, yes, I'm the head football coach, but it's their team… we're going to lead it as coaches, but the players got to drive the shift."

Chennis Berry Top Quotes On Day 8

🏈 Raising the Bar:

"You don't have to be the best player to be a leader. All right, we have some situations in today. One side of the did good and the other side of the ball didn't do so good on situations. So at the end of the day, we got to fix it. Because at the end of the day, we are a team. We're getting better."

🔄 Team-First Mentality:

"Each of us needs all of us. That's the philosophy in the program. It's not about the offense, not about the defense, not about special team. It's about the team."

🌟 Freshman Standouts:

"You know, he just left. From this time last year, you on the high school team and you were a dominant player on the high school team. Well, you got the ability to be a dominant player here because a good thing for him, he enrolled in the spring."

🎥 Football Insights:

"It's never as good as it seems. It's never as bad as it seems. It's always somewhere in between. Sometimes you walk off the field, you feel like, man, you play lights out on offense or defense, then you get to the film and be like, oh, my gosh, we stunk it up today. But then there's times you get. You don't feel like you had a very good day. Then you watch the film and be like, oh, it's the little thing."

🗣️ Player-Driven Culture:

"We got to teach them how to lead.  Some of them know and have the leadership capabilities, but they have to learn how to do it the right way. You know, sometimes getting on a teammate, it's a way to do it. Sometimes you got to give them positive uplift. It's not always getting on a teammate, and that's in life."

Coach Berry emphasizes mindset, teamwork, and leadership, creating a strong foundation for what promises to be an exciting season for South Carolina State. As he says, “Go, Dogs!”

South Carolina State will kick off the new season by 6:00 PM ET, hosting Wofford at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30.

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