When Chennis Berry and Tremaine Jackson meet at midfield before Saturday’s Celebration Bowl, the pregame handshake will carry more than competitive energy.
It will be a greeting built on years of respect, shared fraternity, and the grind of two former Division II coaches who learned how to “get it out the mud,” as Berry put it.
Both men cut their teeth in Division II football, the unforgiving proving ground where coaches do everything from calling plays to washing jerseys. For Jackson and Berry, those years weren’t stepping stones; they were shaping years.
“Man, what a good football coach, but an even better human being,” Berry said, smiling when asked about Jackson. “We’re both old linemen — he’s a D-line guy, I’m an O-line guy — and that means we’ve been grinding since day one. You plan your work and work your plan. That’s how we came up.”
Berry, in his second season leading South Carolina State, still carries the Division II mentality he brought from Benedict College and his early coaching days, dating back to his time as an offensive coordinator in the SWAC at Southern University.
“I was just the old D-II guy when I came here,” he said. “I brought a bunch of D-II coaches with me, and we just keep the same mindset: fall in love with the process. Inside zone is inside zone, power is power, whether it’s Division II or the Power Four. The game is the same — it’s about how you approach it.”
Their shared history goes beyond the field and the film room. Both are proud members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., a brotherhood that, as Jackson puts it, “wired us the same way.”
“Coach Berry and I have been knowing each other a long time,” Jackson said. “We’re both built the same — disciplined, tough, and rooted in brotherhood. When I look at his teams, I see him. They’re physical, they play with pride, and they represent who he is as a coach and as a man.”
Before taking over Prairie View A&M, Jackson made his mark as a defensive innovator at Texas Southern University as an assistant before cutting his teeth as a first-time head coach at Colorado Mesa.
Jackson later turned Valdosta State into a small college power, leading the program to the Division II national championship game last season.
He’s familiar with Berry’s work from afar, too — their Division II paths often crisscrossed on film.
“We were one game away from facing each other (in the Division II playoffs) back when he was at Benedict,” Jackson recalled. “So I’ve seen his teams, studied them, and respected how they play for years.”
The Celebration Bowl, often called the HBCU national championship game, is more than a stage for both men. It’s a moment of reflection — a nod to every long night and unglamorous season that brought them here.
Berry said it best: “You just try to be great where you’re planted. I never chased the next job. I just tried to be the best I could be where I was. When you do that — when you stay faithful in the grind — the blessings come your way.”
The former linemen and Division II coaches will stand on opposite sidelines in one of HBCU football’s grandest stages. But beyond the scoreboard, both men already share a victory — proof that patience, purpose, and brotherhood can carry you from the mud to the moment.
