Candidate?

defensewins · November 29, 2006

Is Todd Berry in the mix?

SUMG · November 29, 2006

Try selling UNT fans on the fact that you've just hired ULM's offensive coordinator. And try selling them on a guy who was 5-35 his last 40 games, while head coach at Army.

Tough sell. He was a great 1-AA coach though.

SUMG · November 29, 2006

Correction....he was most recently on Miami's staff, having left ULM after the 2005 season. Here's more on him:

Coral Gables - - University of Miami head coach Larry Coker today added Todd Berry to the football coaching staff. Berry comes to UM from Louisiana-Monroe, where he was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the last two years. He has also been the head coach at Illinois State and Army. Berry, 45, will coach the UM quarterbacks, including Kyle Wright, who led the ACC in touchdown passes in 2005, his first year as a starter.

"Todd Berry is an outstanding football coach," said Coker, "He is a great teacher of fundamentals, and he has a strong belief in an attacking, explosive style of offense. Without question he will help our offense move forward. Todd has turned down opportunities to coach in the NFL, so we're pleased to have him as part of our offensive staff."

Berry said, "It's a great honor to be at the University of Miami, which is nationally known as an top academic institution and is in a city such as Miami, which is so cosmopolitan and diverse. The football program has such a wonderful history and a bright future. I'll also be working for a man whom people have tremendous respect for as both a coach and a person."

Charlie Weatherbie, the head coach at Louisiana-Monroe, said of Berry, "Todd Berry is as good a football coach as I have been around. He is very smart when it come to football Xs and Os. He is very good with people and is an intelligent football coach. Todd is the total package. Todd is very special to ULM. He has been instrumental in bringing our program a long way over the past two seasons, to the point that we earned a share of the Sun Belt championship. We are excited for him and his family. I wish we could have kept him around longer."

At Louisiana-Monroe in 2005, Berry coached an offense that was third in total offense and first in passing in the Sun Belt Conference. The Indians won the conference title, and he tutored QB Steven Jyles, the conference's Player of the Year who re-wrote the school and conference football records book in the passing and total offense categories. The Indians threw 405 passes in 2005 and were sacked just nine times (once by Georgia and two times by Arkansas). Berry was the head coach at Army from 2000 to midway through the 2003 season. His teams set 25 academy records at Army.

Berry was the head coach at Illinois State from 1996-99, presiding over one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Division I-AA history. The team had not won a conference title since 1950, but under Berry the Redbirds advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in his third season and finished in the I-AA top 20. The following year, ISU was undefeated in the conference and advanced to the I-AA semifinals. Berry was a semifinalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award in both 1998 and 1999. His teams set more than 100 records during his four seasons as head coach, and he compiled a record of 19-7 his last two seasons.

Berry was offensive coordinator at East Carolina from 1992-95, and the Pirates went to the Liberty Bowl his last two seasons. He was the offensive coordinator at Southeast Missouri State in 1991, receivers coach at Mississippi State in 1989 and 1990, and offensive coordinator at Tennessee-Martin from 1986-88. UT-M finished in the top five in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense. Berry was a graduate assistant at Tennessee (1983) and Oklahoma State (1985), as well as the receivers coach at Tulsa (1984).

A native of Miami, Okla., Berry played quarterback at Tulsa from 1979 to 1980 before a knee injury ended his playing career. He and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Jordan and Ryleigh.