benedict Head Football Coach Chennis Berry (l.) and retiring SC State Head Football Coach and current interim Athletics Director Oliver “Buddy” Pough (r.)
are seen here on the sidelines at last week’s South Carolina State High School football playoffs at SCSU’s Oliver Dawson Stadium. Berry has reportedly been offered to succeed Pough as head coach of the Bulldogs.
To say current Benedict head football coach Chennis Berry is a hot commodity in the HBCU football world right now would be an under- statement.
After leading the Columbia, S. C.-based Tigers to back-to-back 10-0 regular seasons, consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) championship game wins and NCAA Div. II Super Region top seeds, the longtime assistant is being heavily sought after.
South Carolina State University has reportedly identified Berry as the top candidate to replace retiring head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough. The South Carolina State opening is the only one so far at the six Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football playing institutions.
But Berry, 50, reportedly also has interest from multiple schools in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) as well.
Multiple sources told HBCU Gameday’s Stephen Gaither that an offer was submitted to Berry’s representatives last week to take over the SCSU program as Pough is on his way out the door. Pough, who led the Bulldogs for the last 22 seasons, is currently the interim AD after the resignation of Keshia Campbell from that role in late October.
Efforts to contact Pough Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Berry and Pough were seen together at SC State’s Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on Thursday as the South Carolina high school football playoffs were taking place there. A multi-year contract for Berry would have to be approved by the South Carolina State University Board of Trustees. The next BOT meeting is set for Thursday, Dec. 7.
One of those sources indicated that Berry is indeed a candidate at both Texas Southern and Southern universities in the SWAC. Berry worked as an assistant coach at nine HBCUs including Howard, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State, Kentucky State and Fort Valley State. He was the offensive coordinator at Southern helping lead the Jaguars to seven consecutive winning seasons prior to getting the top job at Benedict.
The former Savannah State offensive lineman took over as Benedict head coach in 2020 and led the team to a 5-5 record during his first season. Since then he has run the table vs. SIAC competition and earned first-round byes into the NCAA Div. II playoffs.
His team lost in the second round of the playoffs to Wingate (23-6) in 2022 and this season fell in the second round to Lenoir-Rhyne (35-25). Lenoir-Rhyne went on to defeat Valdosta State 35-7 in the quarterfinals and will face Harding in the Div. II semifinals this week.
Berry is 27-7 as a head coach in three seasons.
Pough, an SC State graduate, has served as head coach at South Carolina State University since 2002. He succeeded SC State alum and Bulldog legend Willie Jeffries, who was head coach in two stints at SC State, from 1973-78 and from 1989 through 2001.
