ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina State University didn’t have to go very far to find its new football coach, as they announced they’ve hired Benedict College’s Chennis Berry to lead their program.
South Carolina State University’s Board of Trustees announced on Thursday that Berry would take over the reins of the Bulldogs football program from longtime coach Buddy Pough, who announced before the season began that he would be stepping down.
Trustees announced that the university had entered a memorandum of understanding with Berry for the position.
The school also said former South Carolina State football player Nathan Cochran would be the new athletics director. Pough had been serving as interim director for the last several months. Cochran had been the athletic director at Walsh University.
Berry has been with Benedict since February 2020, leading them to unprecedented success, with the Tigers finishing 11-1 in the last two seasons. This past fall, they were undefeated and were ranked as high as fourth nationally in Division Two before losing to Lenoir-Rhyne in the playoffs.
Before South Carolina State, Berry spent seven years at Southern University as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. In 2016, the Jaguars were fifth in the nation in scoring in the Football Championship Division of Division One.
He also served as an offensive assistant at Howard University and North Carolina A&T.
Berry takes over for Pough, who led the program for 22 seasons. He finished with a 151-93 record overall. He won three MEAC titles and is the all-time leader in wins in South Carolina State history.