Chennis Berry, a longtime HBCU football assistant who turned Benedict College into a top-10 team in NCAA Division II, was officially announced as head coach Friday afternoon in a post on X, formerly Twitter, by the South Carolina State athletic department.
The Bulldogs also named former Bulldog football player Nathan Cochran athletic director today.
SC State President Alexander Conyers has announced the employment of a new athletics director and head football coach. SCSU alumnus Dr. Nathan Cochran will lead the Department of Athletics as athletics director, and Chennis Berry will join the Bulldogs as head football coach. pic.twitter.com/37BhsPfOWZ
— SC State Athletics (@SCStateAthletic) December 8, 2023
Berry, who was 27-7 in three seasons at Benedict, led the Tigers to back-to-back Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in 2022 and 2023, the first two titles in program history.
He will replace program legend Oliver “Buddy” Pough, who announced his retirement before the beginning of this season. Pough, who served as interim AD following the resignation of Keshia Campbell, said that the key to finding his replacement would be ensuring longevity and a continuation of the Bulldogs’ winning ways.
“You want to hire a guy that’s not going to be gone in two years,” he said during the Nov. 6 MEAC coaches’ conference. “We’ve had two coaches in the last 30-plus years here, so we want a guy who’s going to be here a long time.”
