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There is no hotter program in HBCU football than South Carolina State. Since arriving from Benedict College ahead of the 2024 season, head coach Chennis Berry has transformed the Bulldogs into the standard-bearer of the MEAC.
South Carolina State has won back-to-back conference championships, earned two consecutive trips to the Cricket Celebration Bowl and enters the 2026 season looking to pull off a three-peat. Even more remarkably, Berry has yet to lose a conference game. Success of that magnitude often leads to complacency. Berry has spent the offseason making sure that doesn’t happen.
During an appearance on The Pivot at MEAC Football Media Day, Berry explained that while players and coaches may come and go, the expectations inside the South Carolina State football program remain constant.
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“Players change, people change, but the standard can’t change. We’ve been fortunate at South Carolina State to be able to uphold the standard.”
That standard extends well beyond wins and losses. Berry frequently tells his players they’re chasing “A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s,” a philosophy that reflects the priorities of the program.
“Our program talks about chasing A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s. A’s and B’s in the classroom are nonnegotiable. C’s are championships. D’s are degrees.”
Every recruit is evaluated just as much for character as athletic ability, and the Bulldogs’ coaching staff spends as much time learning about a player’s habits and personality as it does watching game film.
“The first thing I want to know is: What’s his character? What kind of young man is he? When I go to the school, I want to talk to the lady in the cafeteria. I want to talk to the lady who is cleaning the building. Does he speak to you? Is he cordial? When he comes on an official visit, how is he talking to his mother?”
Berry believes those interactions often reveal more than a highlight tape ever could.
“Regardless of what kind of player he is, at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to discipline. He could be the best player in the world, but if you have no discipline—does the performance meet the potential?”
That mindset also shapes how South Carolina State builds its locker room. Berry said the Bulldogs intentionally avoid recruiting players who don’t fit the culture, regardless of how talented they may be.
“He may be an outstanding player, but if he doesn’t fit our culture, we won’t take him. When we talk about relational and transactional, yes, it is very transactional. But in our program, we want it to be relational. We’re going to coach them hard, but we’re going to love them harder.”
No Championship hangover for South Carolina State
But, in a conversation with Dr. Cavil inside the HBCU Sports Lab, live from MEAC Media Day, Berry said that accomplishment has already been put behind them.
“We only talk about [the] championship in one team meeting. It’s the beginning of the year. We fall in love with the process. Everything in our program is about process. We surrender the outcome and fall in love with the process of going 1-0 every day.”
The reason is simple. This year’s roster is vastly different from the one that celebrated in Atlanta.
“It’s a new team, new season, and let’s get ready for 2026…We have 52 newcomers, 52 returners. That’s why we don’t talk about the 2025 season, because they’re not the champions. It’s a whole new team.”
Even with so many new faces, Berry likes what he’s seen throughout the offseason.
“I really love this football team. I think our coaches have done an outstanding job of going to get the right fit of young men on offense, defense and special teams. I believe we have a lot of talent, a lot of depth, but we still have to come together.”
As for the formula that has carried South Carolina State to the top of the MEAC, Berry believes it starts in the trenches. When asked why he brought his offensive and defensive line leaders to MEAC Media Day, his answer reflected the identity of the entire program.
“If you look at our program, we built our program on O-line and D-line. So why else wouldn’t I bring my leader on the offensive line and my leader on the defensive line?”
Whether South Carolina State completes a three-peat will be determined over the next several months. But if Berry’s philosophy is any indication, the Bulldogs won’t spend much time thinking about championships. Instead, they’ll continue chasing the process that has made them the program everyone else in the MEAC is trying to catch.
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