 Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. It is a beautiful, sunshiney day on the campus of Benedict College and on behalf of the trustee staff, faculty, students and 18,000 distinguished tigers from across the land. I welcome you to a very, very special day here. We have lots of special guests assembled here. I like coach don't want to get in trouble, but certainly want to give honor to our distinguished mayor, Daniel. I recommend thank you so much for your ongoing and consistent support of Benedict College and all of her achievements. Councilman McDowell, my councilman. How are you, sir? It is so good to see you here today. Our commissioner, Anthony Holloman, has traveled up from Atlanta because he likes hanging around winters. I told him, stick around. We just didn't start it. I told him, stick around. You might as well get an apartment here if that's what you like. And so certainly to our fantastic, outstanding, unparalleled best of BC alumni and athletic booster club. Thank you for coming out this morning. Thank you for never missing a game home or away. It takes a village. It takes a team. This coach needs your support. These kids need and deserve your support. And you have stepped up in a mighty way and continue to support them every single day. Thank you for all that you do and all that you provide for Benedict College and her athletes, all of our other. I see our other coaches assembled here today. Our players, our championship players are here right off the practice field this morning. They don't even look like they worked out this morning. I said, y'all don't look like what you've been through today. But that's what that is pride, right? That is pride and a job well done. Thank you to our cheerleaders for being out here to cheer our team on all the time. Our police department that protects and serves everybody but the president. Thank you. Coach, I am going to give you some credit. You produced an awful lot of championships in your career here at Benedict College. And we thank you. We honor and appreciate you. I don't think we ever often stop to acknowledge the work that you do here. This is a really, really, really big day. It is a historic day for Benedict College. And I think I was given two and a half minutes. So I'm not going to be before you too terribly long talking fast to get it all in. But do want to acknowledge everyone here today for the role that you played. Football is a team sport. Right? Our fans, our alumni, our players, our trainers, our staff, sports information, everybody plays a role in assuring that this team gets what it needs and achieves the goal at the end of the day. It's a game of inches and each of you is an inch on that field, right? That helps us move that ball down the field and score on a regular basis. But it takes a leader and, ladies and gentlemen, we have a leader. We have a leader on this in this football program. We have a leader in this football program. Y'all know I always say I am proud to be the president of Benedict College, but I didn't throw one pass. I didn't get one ball. I didn't block no tackle. I had nothing to do with this, except I hired a football coach. And I'm going to take credit for that. I hired a football coach. I didn't just hire any old football coach. I hired a winning football coach. I hired a coach who believes in one and all every single week. I hired a coach who believes, period, what's the period there? I hired a believer, a man of faith, who is committed to this program and to these young men and to this institution. And he cares more about winning at the game of life for these young men than he does winning on the field. It happens that when you invest in their physical well-being, their emotional well-being, their spiritual well-being, the results show up on the football field. So I want to publicly give you your flowers today. I honor you. I appreciate you. I thank you for what you have brought to Benedict College, your spirit that moves across this campus and impacts so much more. The grade point averages of these young men, the spiritual development of these young men. I didn't do one dog on thing except sign the contract. This man is responsible for the transformation of football at Benedict College. And so we want to honor and support him. Please, he's in the history books. Our football program is in the history books. And now the whole city, every time they drive down to Natch Road, is going to know that champions live here, champions on the campus of Benedict College. I am so very grateful this morning and always for each and every one of you who took the time out of your schedules to come and celebrate with us. It is not lost on us, the role that each of you play. I see my student leaders back there. Let me shout them out, our SGA. Good morning, good morning. So our royals are here. Good morning, good morning. Thank you for representing us with honor and distinction always. It is a great day to be a tiger. Let's get on with the celebration to God be the glory for the things he has done and what he is yet going to do. The best is yet to come at Benedict College. Mr. Mayer, welcome, welcome, welcome. Good morning, everyone. Once again, you know, we're stepping on the campus here and I love every time I come over to Benedict, and especially this, the best of the B.C. Which was absolutely great. We had a trademark, so we'll start charging everybody when they start using it and make some more income for the university here. But we're so excited about being part of it because to have a great city, you've got to have great relationships, great family. And Benedict is a family. It is a piece of the puzzle here in our community and so excited. I've been here to celebrate so many championships. I'm starting to lose count. I think we're at, what, 15, 16, 17, something? Coach, it just keeps growing. It was 13 at one point and we just keep adding to it. But so excited to be here for this unveiling because it's not only the folks who are driving down two nights and they'll see it. It'll be the people riding down high nerves seeing it too because this is the first of four signs being erected for this. Very excited about that. But what I think is so important about all this is, and I think Dr. Ordis hit on it too, is that Coach Berry, you've raised the bar. You've raised the bar not only on athletics, but life. And I want to tell this story because we created a council of collegiate engagement. We have students from every university and college in our community that meet with us on a monthly basis to talk about how do we keep this talent here? What can we do to improve the lives and the quality of life for our students and how do we integrate them? And they brought up in a meeting how fundamentally things have changed on the campus. The athletes hold the door for the young ladies. They say thank you and ma'am, but they go to church together. They eat together, they work together, and they created this family atmosphere. And I contribute that to you, sir. Thank you for what you're doing. You're giving people not only a championship, but you're giving them life lessons that will allow them to bust any glass ceiling that's in their way. And that probably means more to this community and anything else. And let's not forget the 11-O season. I mean, we can't forget that. Yeah, we can. So that is a big hand. But I also think that your thought process and where you're headed with the gas tank method about recruiting and getting these young students and these athletes to stay in our state and highlight and show is an incredible part of it. I'm not gonna keep saying it up here, but I do want to take the opportunity to acknowledge Councilwoman Tina Herbert is here, District 1, also with us. And as you know, we have Reverend McDowell coming up. He promises not to preach too long and he won't pass the plate while we're here. So I think we're in good hands. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. No, no, I'm okay. Good morning. Good morning. Can we say in unison, we are the champions. We are the champions. Dr. Otis, your leadership and what you've done for Benedict and getting this coach here in South Carolina says a lot about your leadership and what has taken place on the Benedict campus. Now I must admit to you today, I have a written script. I do, but I'm not gonna use it. I'm not gonna use it primarily because of what I just said and what the coach said to me just a few minutes ago. We recognize in the city of Columbia that Benedict College stands tall, not only athletically, but academically. And in order to have an athletic program that continues to excel, you need young men and persons and young women who are capable and able to move out. Now, one of the analogies that I wanna mention today, and I promise I will let the church say amen. One of the analogies I do wanna use and I wanna direct this to Coach. Football games aren't won in the huddle. You don't make any tackles in the huddle. You don't throw any passes, nor do you obtain a championship in the huddle. It's when you break out of the huddle, lives are changed. Strategic moves that you've talked about in the huddle transforms itself into a championship. Coach, we broke out of the huddle. 11 and old. Now, it doesn't get any better than that. I was just telling the coach just a moment ago while in council, Mayor Rickman, there was a young man there who was touting over the fact that the Gamecocks has not done that well. And as he exited chamber that day, he hauled out, we need that coach over on the other side of town. Blasphemy. Blasphemy. And I think the Mayor simply said, no, that's not gonna happen. We broke out of the huddle. And for 11 games, we are the champions. We are the champions athletically, academically, and we are proud of that whole notion. I drove by and I seen the young men practicing today. Look, as hot as it is, and it's a little cooler this morning, but as hot as it was in my air conditioned car, those young men all geared up, I said to myself, they've broken out of the huddle. And they are strategically, athletically ready to claim another championship. Yeah, right. Thank you, President Otis. Thank you for your team. And again, thank you for bringing this young man in our midst. Thank you so very much. To God be the glory. What a great day. What a great day, first of all, to be a Benedict College Tiger. I'm grateful to be the head football coach here at Benedict College. And I'm grateful to be able to have the opportunity to coach these wonderful student athletes each and every day. It's a great day to be a Benedict College Tiger. Now too, to Dr. Otis, thank you for all you do. To Mayor Rickerman, appreciate you coming on the campus of Benedict College today. Thank you. To Councilman McDowell, thank you. For all you do in the city of Columbia. Thank you, sir. To Coach Washington, my man. Appreciate all you do for our program. Commissioner Holler, thank you for coming to visit us today. Thank you. To the Booster Club, appreciate you guys and all the support you all make every day. All the road trips you guys make. We really appreciate it. And all the Benedict College family is here today. It's a great day. What a special day, what a special group to be able to have these young men and I get a chance to point to the lives of them each and every day because it's bigger than football. It's about the game of life. It's about the game of life. We want to win football games, but we want to win souls. And if we can win souls, we're changing the trajectory of young men's lives every day. Yes, everybody's gonna win. Remember, the championships is warm. But the souls that we're winning each and every day and graduating our young men, chasing A's and B's in the classroom, those are non-negotiable. C's are championships and D's are degrees. That's our philosophy. That's what we're all about. And we're about the A's, B's, C's, D's and B's in college football. It's a great day. I definitely want to give a shout out to a gentleman that really kind of walked me in on this long time ago. I mean, he's very, very supportive. Not only with this unveiling, but just things that I need. You know, he's an alum of Benedict College long, long time ago. And he comes by my office on a weekly basis. We sit down and talk. He's helped me in so many ways, but that's Mr. Ray Corden. Mr. Ray Corden, what I also got. I really, really appreciate you, Ray Corden, all the help that he does. And he's definitely been a very, very strong advocate for Benedict College football. So I'm very, very grateful for him. I want to also pay tribute to Tina, Tina Herbert. Tina Herbert, appreciate you. Thank you for what you did. Make sure we get this deal going. And we're very, very grateful for that. So very, very grateful. My coaches, they're not here. They're wrapping up practice right now. All right, we have practice at seven this morning. We've been getting out there trying to get 1% better. We just wrapped up practice number 16 this morning. So thank you to my coaches that are one of the amazing coaching staff. To me, it's not about the best coach. It's about the best fit. The right fit of coaches around to be able to have the same mindset each and every day. I don't want guys to think like me. I want guys with shared values that's gonna love these young men each and every day. And I'm very, very grateful for my coaches. To these handsome young men right here. All right, you know, I bought four of the guys. These guys are all on our leadership council. They're our leaders of the team. Not only on the field, but off the field. But I'll start off on the offensive side of the ball. All right, we have Mitch Rohnick. He's our starting center. All right. He is also not only our starting center. He has a 3.85 GPA. This is an amazing student. He's also a graduate already of Benedict College. And he's also in our masters of business administration program right now. All right. And in this past summer, he went to an internship and he was rated the top intern in the whole entire program. He participated in this summer. So he's gonna do great things in his game we call life. Also on the offensive side of the ball, we have Zaire Scotland. I'll start running back. He's a rising sophomore on the field, but junior in the classroom. He does an amazing job in the classroom as well as on the football field. Now let's take you to the defensive side of the ball. Geron K.P. Kilpatrick. He's our starting nickel. He's on our leadership council as well. And if I'm correct, K.P., I don't think he's made a B since he's been here. He's made all A's since he's been here. He's also in our graduate program getting a master's in sports management. And last but not least, this is our All-American, Mr. Luebert De Nellis. He's a defense and hand force. He's first team All-American on every publication, but he's also first team academic All-American as well. And he has not made a B since he's been here as well. He'll be graduating in December with a degree in hand. And for me, I don't want to leave this person out. Obviously, I talked about her at the beginning, but I do want to thank our president. I saved her for last for a reason because anybody that knows, if you don't know, then you know. I've been coaching 26 years before I got here. This is year 29 here. And I've been an assistant coach for 26 years. So I coached years in the SWAT, I coached years in the MEAT, and I coached years in the SISC. But Dr. Rosalind Clark-Hardes gave me an opportunity. And I'm grateful for the opportunity because she can show us anybody else, but she gave me an opportunity. So I believe an attitude of gratitude. And I wouldn't be standing here today without our president, Dr. Rosalind Clark-Hardes. So I thank you so much. So with all this being said, we're getting ready to have a street sign unveiling. I'm grateful for that. This is a great day, a special day, and it'll never leave two-notch road. They say this road right here is the most well-traffic road in the whole city of Columbia. So people gonna see it each and every day. But I'm gonna leave you because it is bigger than football for me. It's a quote, it's a poem that I go by and I'm gonna leave you with about the game of life. And I really, really believe in this whole hardly. It's called the game of life. And it goes like this. Life is a game with a glorious prize. If you only play it right, it gives and takes, it bends and breaks, and it often ends in a fight. The heat who truly wins, who honestly tries regardless of wealth or fame, you could never despair, who plays it fair. How are you playing the game? Do you win the wine when you fail to win in the manner that you think you'll do? Or do you just narrow it to man in case he can and does do better than you? Or do you take your rebuffs with annoying grin and laugh because you pull up lame? Does your faith hold true when your whole world's blue? How are you playing the game? Get in the thick of the fringes no matter what your chairs go, bring such a thrill to your post thrill and dare to your very soul. Do some more and make a noise let your purpose burst into flames. As I punch with a cry, I shall do or die. Then you play the game. Let's get it. No talk.