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                         May 3, 2002

The wit and wisdom of Todd Berry

Commentary by Jim Fox
Staff Writer

Army football coach Todd Berry entertained all who attended an informal recruiting luncheon to announce his incoming 2006 football class.

The group of 27 direct admissions and 11 players from the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School amount to his second full recruiting class since his hiring Dec. 17, 1999.

During the 75-minute affair April 26, the Black Knight grid master fielded questions from the audience and enlightened us with axioms pertaining to college football recruiting, how to build a team that wins championships and how not to stockpile talent at any one position.

He also dropped repeated coaching terms that any true fan of Black Knight football should become accustomed to.

The Class of 2006 includes six quarterbacks and what Berry described as a concentration on periphery players.

The emphasis in almost every case was on speed due to the necessity of competing with other "fast" Conference USA schools.

Time and time again he emphasized the qualities of his new class.

They consisted, in part, of players who "always wanted to come to West Point," and players with "really nice frames."

He didn’t mention any "War Daddies" making the cut, but did have a defender or two who likes to "get there in a bad mood."

Players from down south, typically Texas and Florida, are especially welcome. That’s where they play "fast ball" as opposed to "slow ball," which seems to be played in most northern locales.

While out on the recruiting trail he is on the constant look out for "guys who are playmakers" and "players with some athleticism," but mostly "legitimate" players.

He wants players "who play as hard in the fourth quarter as they do in the first quarter."

He’ll also take a few that "enjoy playing the game."

Berry admitted, "it is hard to turn down a big body that can run around a little bit."

Because remember, "If you can’t catch anybody, you can’t kill’em."

At one point he stopped to add emphasis and make sure I had my tape recorder on.

After I assured him I was hanging on his every word, he continued.

He wanted to make sure everyone knew that from now on "the time for excuses about Army’s athleticism are over."

"I’m not saying we are as athletic as all the teams in the country," the career 4-18 Division I coach said, "but I’ll tell you I feel very good about our athleticism in relation to everyone else that we play."

Glad we got that one cleared up.

"We are not going to apologize for (our athleticism) anymore," he stressed. "I don’t want to hear that anymore from the players. That’s a non-entity now," Berry said.

Size isn’t always an issue either, unless it’s in the secondary.

He doesn’t want defensive backs shorter than 5-10. Because opposing teams "will just try to play jump ball on you."

The goal, as always with Berry, is to win championships.

Huzzah!

"You win championships when you have a bunch of older players who are experienced and have all played at a high level," he said.

I guess that means we are a still a few years away from any title runs. Darn it!

He seems satisfied that the road to championships is a fast one and I can’t say I doubt him one bit.

This new class seems to address the depth at quarterback and in the secondary, two glaring needs entering the fall campaign.