MONROE, La.-Todd Berry, who just completed his third season as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at UNLV, has been named ULM's 14th football head coach, Athletics Director Bobby Staub announced Wednesday afternoon. Berry's hire is pending final approval by the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors.
"What a wonderful day," Berry said at his press conference. "I really appreciate everyone coming out, especially some of my former players. So much of our job is about winning and doing what everybody needs for the program, but it is also about the young people. It is those types of people that you are in this thing for. I am so proud of some of the things Bobby (Staub) has said about me. Obviously he is going to give glowing remarks, but one of the things he mentioned was the academic side of things. I know that the players that are here right now and the players of the past remember the significant about the academics."
Berry, a 27-year coaching veteran, was ULM's offensive coordinator from 2004-05, where he helped guide the Warhawks to the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Championship and quarterback Steven Jyles to Sun Belt Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors.
"Todd Berry is the right man at the right time for ULM," Staub said. "He's here to build a winning program both on and off the field and with the support of the entire Warhawk family, I'm quite confident he'll be successful in doing just that."
During his tenure at UNLV, Berry developed the top quarterback duo in the Mountain West Conference with record-setters Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen. The pair combined to throw for 2,693 yards and 17 touchdowns this past season. Clayton is UNLV's career leader in completion percentage and is the only player in Rebel history to have thrown for over 300 yards and rushed for over 100 yards in a game.
Clausen set a UNLV freshman record with 119 consecutive pass attempts without an interception in 2008 - a mark that fell just 19 attempts short of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record. Clayton threw 18 touchdown passes in 2008 - the fourth most in UNLV history and most since 1996 - and set the UNLV school record by attempting 173 passes without an interception. The duo combined for just six interceptions during the 2008 season to tie the school record.
"This is a great day for us," Berry said. "One of the interesting things for me right now is that I don't hope, I know. That is special for myself and my wife because I know exactly what I am getting into. Hopefully the administration here, along with a few of the players around, understands who I am and what I am about. I don't know exactly when that is going to come, but it is going to happen in a hurry. We are going to go to work right away in doing that."
Despite coaching in Nevada, Berry continued to recruit two areas that ULM relies heavily on every year - Florida and Texas. ULM had 27 players on its roster this past season from those two states.
Berry split his stints at ULM and UNLV with one season as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Miami in 2006.
His first stop in Monroe followed a four-year run, 2000-03, as the head coach at Army. Berry's teams set 25 Academy records during his tenure and he is the last Army coach to defeat Navy (26-17, 2001). He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association from 2001-03.
Berry was the head coach at Illinois State from 1996-99, presiding over one of the most remarkable turnarounds in Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) history. The team had not won a conference title since 1950, but under Berry the Redbirds advanced to the NCAA FCS Playoffs in his third season and finished in FCS top 20.
The following year, ISU ran through its conference schedule unblemished and advanced to the FCS 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 the offensive coordinator at East Carolina from 1992-95, and the Pirates went to the Liberty Bowl his last two seasons. Prior to his stop in Greenville, N.C., 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. UTM finished in the top five in the NCAA in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense.
He matured in the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at Tennessee (1983) and Oklahoma State (1985), as well as the receivers coach at Tulsa (1984). Berry worked for some well-known head coaches during his ascent, holding down assistant positions on the staffs of Steve Logan at East Carolina, John Cooper at Tulsa and Johnny Majors at Tennessee.
He is a native of Miami, Okla., where he was an all-state selection in football at Miami High School. Berry played quarterback at the University of Tulsa from 1979-80 before a knee injury ended his playing career.
Berry graduated in 1983 with a degree in business marketing. He and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Jordan and Ryleigh.
Personal Information:
Full Name: Todd Allen Berry
Born: November 12, 1960
Wife: Lisa
Children: Daughters - Jordan (23), Ryleigh (8)
Hometown: Miami, Oklahoma
Education: B.S. in business marketing, University of Tulsa (1983)
Berry's Coaching Career
2009-pr. - ULM (Head Coach)
2007-09 - UNLV (Associate Head Coach / Offensive coordinator / Quarterbacks)
2006 - Miami (Quarterbacks)
2004-05 - ULM (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
2000-03 - Army (Head Coach)
1996-99 - Illinois State (Head Coach)
1992-95 - East Carolina (Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs)
1991 - Southeast Missouri State (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
1989-90 - Mississippi State (Receivers)
1986-88 - Tennessee-Martin (Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks)
1985 - Oklahoma State (Graduate Assistant/Running Backs)
1984 - Tulsa (Receivers)
1983 - Tennessee (Graduate Assistant/Tight Ends)
Bowl Games as a Coach (5)
2006 MPC Computers Bowl (Miami)
1995 Liberty Bowl (East Carolina)
1994 Liberty Bowl (East Carolina)
1985 Gator Bowl (Oklahoma State)
1983 Citrus Bowl (Tennessee)
Coaching Accomplishments
- Developed UNLV record-setting quarterbacks Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen.
- Tutored ULM quarterback QB Steven Jyles, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2005
- As head coach at Army from 2000-03, his teams set 25 Academy records
- As head coach at Illinois State, led the Redbirds to the Division I-AA playoffs twice, the first postseason appearances for the school in nearly 50 years
- Semifinalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award in 1998 and 1999
- Gateway Conference and AFCA Regional Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999
