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ALL-AREA FOOTBALL COACH OFYEAR Berry wins his way

December 9, 2005 12:50 am

By TAFT COGHILL JR.

Jeff Berry finally can say he did it with his team.

Berry took over the Brooke Point High School football program in July of 2000 following the sudden death of his father, Tom, who was the Black-Hawks' coach at the time.

Just two weeks before preseason practice was scheduled to begin, Tom Berry suffered a massive heart attack at age 53 while doing lawn work at his Stafford County home. The former Stafford High School head coach was preparing for his third season at the helm of Brooke Point.

Jeff Berry, who had just graduated from Shepherd (W.Va.) College in 1999, was an unpaid assistant on his father's staff when he took over head coaching duties.

It was the consensus among Brooke Point's coaches that Jeff, just 27, lead the team on an interim basis.

"It wasn't difficult to take over," said Berry, who helped coach the defensive line as an assistant the previous season. "I knew how important that team was to my dad. I wanted to give him the respect he deserved by carrying on. I really didn't have much time to think about it."

The Black-Hawks went 8-3 and lost in the first round of the Northwest Region playoffs to Potomac that year, but Berry didn't feel the successful season was the result of a masterful coaching job.

The Black-Hawks were led by running back Larry Smith, who rushed for 1,994 yards and 25 touchdowns that year.

"Anybody could've came off the streets and coached that team," Berry said. "We had a lot of talent."

Berry went a combined 17-23 from 2001-04, before breaking through with a 7-4 campaign this fall. The Black-Hawks were 4-6 in 2004.

Their marked improvement earned Berry, 32, The Free Lance-Star Coach of the Year honors.

"That's awesome," Brooke Point senior running back/linebacker Rex Bradford said of his coach's award. "He deserves it. He really deserves it."

After his year as interim coach, Berry had to interview for the full-time job. He was hired by then-Brooke Point athletic director Chris Courtney, the same man who selected his father.

Courtney, who is now the athletic director at Mountain View High School in Stafford, said Jeff Berry was an ideal candidate because of his youthful enthusiasm.

He said the feelings involved in Tom Berry's death played no role in the decision.

"It wasn't an emotional thing at all," Courtney said. "Jeff stepped up to the plate. His energy level and his genuine interest in the kids beyond the football field made him the right choice."

Courtney said Jeff Berry's win-loss record in the years following his initial season was never a concern.

But he added that he enjoyed watching Berry experience success with his own team for the first time this season.

"I cried," Courtney said. "He deserved success. Watching his team get to the playoffs was just a pleasure. It made me feel good."

Added Bradford: "This season was all [Berry]. He decided who played and who got the ball. He made sure everybody was ready. He also got the students and teachers to rally behind us."

Brooke Point's players had a chip on their shoulders all season.

Bradford said that after the Black-Hawks defeated defending Commonwealth District and Northwest Region champion North Stafford 10-2 in the second game of the season, all the questions seemed to focus on what was wrong with the Wolverines.

It wasn't until the Black-Hawks beat the Wolverines a second time that people started to notice that something had gone right with Brooke Point.

The Black-Hawks finished second in the Commonwealth behind Massaponax before losing 17-14 to E.C. Glass in the Northwest Region, Division 5 quarterfinals.

Berry credited his players with the team's turnaround.

"The biggest difference was the attitude of the whole team," Berry said. "We wanted to bring in good players with good character instead of looking for talent level first."

Unselfish standouts like Bradford and senior quarterback Matt Cavalier sacrificed for a team that didn't feature a 1,000-yard running back.

Chase Barnett was the team's leading rusher with 510 yards, but the Black-Hawks made up for the lack of a star runner with smart offense, a disciplined defense and sound special teams: all the traits of a team led by a coach's son.

"He talks about his dad sometimes," Bradford said of Berry. "He said that even though his dad never met us, he would be proud of the way we played. He said it would do his dad proud to coach a group like us."

To reach TAFT COGHILL JR.:540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com