This article was written for Canespace by long-time blogger Loco...
There were a few surprise players this past season, on both offense and defense. Despite our stable of running backs, one player stood out that most people thought would get lost in the shuffle: Damien Berry.
Berry came to UM as a 4 star safety out of Glades Central High School in 2007. The son of former UM starting corner and brief NFLer Ken Berry, Damien had started his high school career at Suncoast High School (the school where his dad was a defensive assistant). He was one of three regular starters on Varsity as a freshman, and everybody knew then that he would be playing ball in college, and most figured it would be at "The U".
In high school Berry was a hard runner on offense and head hunter on defense. He loved working out and focused on strengthening his legs. He could also do dead lifts and power cleans with the big boys.
In his sophomore year, Damien shared the backfield with former NC State corner Deandre Morgan and played Rover on defense where his job was basically “tackle the guy with the ball”.
During his junior year, the principle at Suncoast caused turmoil, firing the coaching staff (and with it the elder Berry) midway through the season. That caused Damien to shut it down and transfer to Glades Central in hopes of winning a State Championship.
That next season was his senior year where Damien played almost exclusively on offense. His dreams were realized as he ran the 6th ranked (nationally) Glades Central Raiders to a state championship. Berry did all this despite playing on a torn Meniscus and leaving the championship game in the first quarter after tearing his MCL.
At UM there were turbulent times also. Head Coach Larry Coker was fired and Hurricanes fans wondered what would happen to the recruiting class. Damien Berry however, citing his trust in Randy Shannon, stayed committed to follow in his dad’s footsteps to The U.
He played mostly on special teams as a freshman, being recognized once again as a “head-hunter”. After his freshman year, because there were a lot of safeties on the UM roster and only a couple running backs (remember that was the year that we were down to one RB), Coach Shannon asked Damien if he would change positions and move from defense to offense.
Berry was told he would get carries, as long as he put the work in at running back.
The 2008 season came and went, and Berry again played on special teams and not much else. To be fair, he will admit that some of it is his fault, after getting himself suspended for the first game and goofing around too much. Fans, including several on this site, wondered out loud: “With our stable of running backs is Berry going to get lost in the shuffle and become another Jason Geathers?”
As is usual at UM, running backs get their chances when injuries occur. Damien’s opportunity came as a result of a perfect storm of Javaris James always being hurt, Lee Chamber’s dislocated shoulder at the end of the spring, and Pat Hill’s injury at the beginning of the season. Hill’s injury was the key, because it moved Mike James (seen below at L) to fullback opening the way for Berry (below at R) to shine.
Berry had kept his trust in Shannon and part way through the 2009 season finally year got his opportunity. It was the break he was looking for and one he would not waste. Damien became the Hurricanes best running back and wound up the year as the Hurricanes second leading rusher with 616 yards on 93 carries and 8 touchdowns.
Berry impressed his coaches, teammates and UM fans with his hard running style and relentless effort. In fact many fans called for Berry to be the starter and to get more carries. Some questioned if Berry had issues with his stamina when he didn’t get them. However, UM fans have to realize that this is not going to happen.
Randy Shannon will never give one running back the bulk of the carries; he prefers to spread the ball around amongst the backs. Damien Berry will remain the power back, the bulldozer. He’s not as fast as he was before the knee injury, though he is getting back to speed. He has good vision, and runs with a purpose: to run people over.
As a player, Berry is still a headhunter and you are likely to continue to see him flying down the field with reckless abandon on special teams. As a person, Damien likes to have fun but is intense and plays off the crowd, so be loud at the games.
And don’t fret when he isn’t in for the entire game because rest assured, when he gets in, the defense will know it.
wow... really... first?
Posted by: KLCaneFan | January 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM
I'm predicting - this hire will move Bailey into the level of dominant lineman that we all expected and we used to have in the past. Vernon too. If only Moncur got that extra year.. Damn.
Good hire IMO
JerseyCanes
Posted by: JC | January 19, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Jersey, you were the one I spoke to about your post the other day and it being a great line of thinking!
Posted by: The Truth | January 19, 2010 at 12:44 PM
1st
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:00 PM
Chico Escuela comes in fourth
Posted by: Lurker | January 19, 2010 at 01:00 PM
Soup started the politics.
Just sayin....
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 12:56 PM
I know he did, Ibis. Not attacking you, one of the fine 'Cane men who helped me wrap up the Champs tailgate, I just don't want people to get wound up over politics when we can focus on our commonalities:
LOVE FOR THE 'CANES!!!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
C - A - N - E - S
'CANES!!!!
Posted by: JSQ | January 19, 2010 at 01:00 PM
Posted by: JSQ | January 19, 2010 at 01:01 PM
JSQ - I'm not touching that cuz I actually CAN make a joke but with a new Cane DL hire I'd like to stick around and chat with you good people about it! Soup would give me a TO for sure.
Posted by: The Truth | January 19, 2010 at 12:36 PM
A dirty joke about this?
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12863004
I'm intrigued, but I respect your decision.
Posted by: JSQ | January 19, 2010 at 12:55 PM
Posted by: JSQ | January 19, 2010 at 01:02 PM
Truth
What's up with McGriff? You think he's got what it takes?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:02 PM
Top ten!
I'm just glad we seem to be getting who we want, and it happened quickly. Very good sign for the progam.
Posted by: j.w. | January 19, 2010 at 01:03 PM
from todd mcshay covering the east west shrine practices.
• Miami RB Javarris James made one of the better runs of the day. He started to the right and drew the linebackers up by pressing the line of scrimmage before cutting back to the left. He also did a nice job of releasing out of the backfield, squaring up to the quarterback over the middle and snatching the ball out of the air.
Posted by: Esteban | January 19, 2010 at 01:03 PM
Great piece! I see big things for Damien in the future.
Go 'canes!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | January 19, 2010 at 01:06 PM
that last post was from Day 1...this is from Day 2.
Rock you like a Hurricane
It's only been less than two practices, but Miami RB Javarris James is standing out so far. He's showing good patience as a runner. They're using a zone-blocking scheme here and he's waiting for the hole to develop and when it does, he shows the ability to plant quickly drive up the field. That will allow him to be a contributor in a zone-blocking scheme like, say, the Texans, Eagles, Vikings, etc., run. He's also catching the ball well and seems like the crafty veteran of this group and doing the right things. It's not a deep running back class this year and while James was never an elite player -- he shared carried and had durability issues as well -- he'll wind up going in the fourth or fifth round and has a chance to stick.
Posted by: Esteban | January 19, 2010 at 01:07 PM
I know he did, Ibis. Not attacking you, one of the fine 'Cane men who helped me wrap up the Champs tailgate, I just don't want people to get wound up over politics when we can focus on our commonalities:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What kind of volunteer work were you talking about? I live in Palm Beach.
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:08 PM
I never even heard about Samoa getting hit by an earthquake followed by a tsunami
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM
Last September. Samoa, American Samoa & Tonga. The US, Australia & New Zealand all sent aid. It was a 8.0 magnitude quake. 8.0. that's higher than the one that hit Haiti. Waves up to 20 feet high that hit as far as 1 mile inland. The quake hit first and then 15 minutes later the tsunami hit.
A day after that, a 7.6 underwater quake hit western Indonesia.
You know The Rock had to have sent some relief over there, no question & no time wasted
Posted by: Six | January 19, 2010 at 01:12 PM
McGriff does a pretty good job. I'd say comparing his ability to Hurtt, McGriff brings more to the table coachingwise.
He's take a raw Brandon Harris and help him earn All ACC. You would have seen more out RayRay if not not fir an injury and Miami did line up with a first year CB that played WR for 3 years here...and was OK.
Posted by: The Truth | January 19, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Great article. Next year Damien has a coming out party.
Posted by: Lurker | January 19, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Holy Cow....according to Scout, Stanford has a better recruiting class then we do. STANFORD!!!
Posted by: raizecane | January 19, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Good to see Baby J making some noise! I wish Epps had a chance in one of those games.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:14 PM
Holy Cow....according to Scout, Stanford has a better recruiting class then we do. STANFORD!!!
Posted by: raizecane | January 19, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Don't trip off that stuff man.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:14 PM
BG - Have not heard you on Bill King lately. He had me rolling yesterday because he says every time the Miami 30 / 30 episode comes on, he has to watch it.
He was also saying BK was either on heavy meds or had just finished off a keg and was wondering why ESPN even included his interview.
Posted by: raizecane | January 19, 2010 at 01:18 PM
The article on Berry was written by Loco. Credits were just added at the top of the article. Editing and photos added by 86.
JSQ...I went back and added the credits for the last blog also. Sorry about the delay in doing that. Thanks for all of your contributions!
MM01...I have your article for Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Depends if the hiring announcement becomes official.
Manny and Shandel have not broken the story yet? Should we do it? Is it confirmed?
If it does then I have to break away from the regularly scheduled programming for BREAKING NEWS!
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:19 PM
McGriff does a pretty good job. I'd say comparing his ability to Hurtt, McGriff brings more to the table coachingwise.
He's take a raw Brandon Harris and help him earn All ACC. You would have seen more out RayRay if not not fir an injury and Miami did line up with a first year CB that played WR for 3 years here...and was OK.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yeah that pretty much sums up how I feel about him. I think he needs some more bodies to work with which this years recruiting class will bring his way. Just wish there was another safety baller in this group.
You think R Buxton is Miami safety material?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:19 PM
Also with hearing about JJ, you see why the coaches continued to give him carries. Obviously, he deserved them.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:19 PM
Great article!
Anybody know if all the EEs are on campus, todays the day right? Any Futch-like SNAFUs this year?
Posted by: DZ8 | January 19, 2010 at 01:21 PM
I saw that 60minutes piece on American Samoa and they showed the equipment these guys used. ALL 2nd hand stuff, some schools didn't even have fields to practice on. You'd figure some NFLers or The Rock would make some donations to equip these guys. Maybe this 60minute exposure is just what they needed to spur them to action.
Posted by: DZ8 | January 19, 2010 at 01:22 PM
McGriff does a pretty good job. I'd say comparing his ability to Hurtt, McGriff brings more to the table coachingwise.
He's take a raw Brandon Harris and help him earn All ACC. You would have seen more out RayRay if not not fir an injury and Miami did line up with a first year CB that played WR for 3 years here...and was OK.
Posted by: The Truth | January 19, 2010 at 01:13 PM
Truth...I have to say I am warming to McGriff. Both in coaching AND recruiting. No doubt that Brandon Harris showed the biggest improvement of any player and my LOF pick Sam Shields, while not spectacular by any means, held his own at the other CB position.
Stoudtland? Not so much...somebody convince me that I'm wrong here?
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:23 PM
Canez1 - see brah, even bg1906 gave G.I.Joe a thumbs down. Once I saw the trailer with Dennis Quaid & Channing Tatum, I knew it was going to be cheesed up
It took 61 seconds into the trailer, when they showed a shot of Channing Tatum, on a motorcycle, in the rain, taking his sunglasses off or something, in a cemetery, in slight slo-motion, in his best Preferred Stock cologne ad face ... and I couldn't stop laughing and said "NEXT"
The first 60 seconds of the trailer looked nice. I was getting kind of hyped for it b/c it looked kind of serious almost, as in the NEW Batman movies with Christian Bale.
Then I heard Dennis Quaid voice and saw a quick shot of him, and I though, ehhh, slight fart on the movie right there .... then I saw that whole Channing Tatum shot and I flushed it down the toilet in my mind from then on
Like I said, if I could just watch the parts with Snake Eyes, that'd be cool b/c dude doesn't talk - therefore - no cheesy diaglogue the entire time. That and watch Sienna Miller strut around
I think this proves you really did go to the Mariah Carey concert, but you tried to cover it up by saying you watched some movies that dudes might like and one of the movies you picked was G.I.Joe ... haha. Man, it's ok, you can admit you went to see MiMi and you were singing along to Sweet Sweet Fantasy Babyyyy
Posted by: Six | January 19, 2010 at 01:25 PM
JSQ, unfortunately the closest you're ever going to get to The Truth is probably right here on Canespace.
FightingIbis...If you only knew.
By the way, I agree with you on Ted Kennedy. He knew exactly what he was doing when he did it and got away with it because of who he was.
Posted by: The Wizard | January 19, 2010 at 01:26 PM
He didn't decide... the people of Massachusets decided when they re-elected him countless times.
Posted by: DZ8 | January 19, 2010 at 01:28 PM
blah blah blah
Posted by: splarfy | January 19, 2010 at 01:29 PM
BG - Have not heard you on Bill King lately. He had me rolling yesterday because he says every time the Miami 30 / 30 episode comes on, he has to watch it.
He was also saying BK was either on heavy meds or had just finished off a keg and was wondering why ESPN even included his interview.
Posted by: raizecane | January 19, 2010 at 01:18 PM
I was on there last week. Yeah I heard that too. Bill is funny. He kind of was down on us today. Said he doesn't know if Shannon is the guy to lead us to the promised land.
What I get from that is this...
We blew an INCREDIBLE opportunity by losing the bowl game. We win the bowl game and no one is doubting coach and the expectations for next year are sky high. We REALLY, REALLY missed out on a great opportunity. No one sees or thinks about the improvment, they only see that last game and as Bill put it, we got punked and beat up a little bit.
He said Year 4 for Shannon will tell us a lot about if he's the guy or not. Fair or not I think that is a fair assessment.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:32 PM
You think R Buxton is Miami safety material?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:19 PM
Beginning to look like he may not be in this class.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:33 PM
Great article!
Anybody know if all the EEs are on campus, todays the day right? Any Futch-like SNAFUs this year?
Posted by: DZ8 | January 19, 2010 at 01:21 PM
Chase Ford was the only snafu I've heard of so far.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:34 PM
"Stoudtland? Not so much...somebody convince me that I'm wrong here?
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:23 PM
I can't.
The only defense I can come up with - and you'll LOVE this one AND I have (gulp) actually admitted this in the past - OL coaching is the one area of the team where you HAVE to have a guy that can teach.
Why?
Because it takes a while to make a player out of your average OL recruit. That OL bunch was bad. Stout inhereted IMO the worst unit on the team abs has the toughest job.
I think this upcoming season will say A LOT about him. His unit did get better. But for me it still wasn't good enough. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until this time next year...
Posted by: The Truth | January 19, 2010 at 01:35 PM
You think R Buxton is Miami safety material?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:19 PM
Beginning to look like he may not be in this class.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So we may not have a safety in this class? Is it grades?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:36 PM
bg1906 says: "We blew an INCREDIBLE opportunity by losing the bowl game. We win the bowl game and no one is doubting coach and the expectations for next year are sky high. We REALLY, REALLY missed out on a great opportunity."
U win today's comment award for:
STATING THE OBVIOUS!
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:36 PM
We blew an INCREDIBLE opportunity by losing the bowl game. We win the bowl game and no one is doubting coach and the expectations for next year are sky high. We REALLY, REALLY missed out on a great opportunity. No one sees or thinks about the improvment, they only see that last game and as Bill put it, we got punked and beat up a little bit.
He said Year 4 for Shannon will tell us a lot about if he's the guy or not. Fair or not I think that is a fair assessment.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:32 PM
Agreed, bg- it's all about momentum when you're talking public perception.
Posted by: j.w. | January 19, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Alright, finished my James Wilder Jr. reel that I shot and uploaded it to YouTube
Here it is .. #32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSu0RDMja0A
Kid is going to be a Senior this year. He's obviously a RB and on Defense, he just lines up on which ever end he wants and rushes to the person with the ball.
Posted by: Six | January 19, 2010 at 01:37 PM
Truth...I have to say I am warming to McGriff. Both in coaching AND recruiting. No doubt that Brandon Harris showed the biggest improvement of any player and my LOF pick Sam Shields, while not spectacular by any means, held his own at the other CB position.
Stoudtland? Not so much...somebody convince me that I'm wrong here?
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:23 PM
I think this is the year you should really judge Stoutland about what he is or isn't. He DEPENDED on players he didn't recruit up until now. Now he has mostly his own guys. Lets see how he does. I don't see anything from the OL that makes me think they aren't getting the right coaching. I just see them as inconsistent and at RT have a gaping hole. You could actually say they played with 4.5 OL this year as Pipho was a liability.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:37 PM
NO MORE POLITICS PLEASE!
Thank U,
The Management
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:37 PM
James was never an elite player -- he shared carried and had durability issues as well -- he'll wind up going in the fourth or fifth round and has a chance to stick.
Posted by: Esteban | January 19, 2010 at 01:07 PM
The competition must really suck there Esteban! I was at the Wisconsin game in Orlando and although I was upset we lost I was even happier Baby J played his LAST game as a cane!
Posted by: Brownsub | January 19, 2010 at 01:40 PM
So we may not have a safety in this class? Is it grades?
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Don't know quite what it is.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:40 PM
You could actually say they played with 4.5 OL this year as Pipho was a liability.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:37 PM
The arguement there is why play the Senior who should never have been on the field in place of getting a freshman or sophmore some real game experience that could help you next year?
Now is that on Stoudt, Whipple or Shannon?
Never mind don't answer that. I know, same story as Glenn Cook?
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:41 PM
He said Year 4 for Shannon will tell us a lot about if he's the guy or not. Fair or not I think that is a fair assessment.
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:32 PM
I would agree with that. I just purchased a 1 year extended warranty on RS that expires on January 10, 2011.
Posted by: raizecane | January 19, 2010 at 01:41 PM
"Stoudtland? Not so much...somebody convince me that I'm wrong here?
Posted by: SOUP | January 19, 2010 at 01:23 PM
I can't.
The only defense I can come up with - and you'll LOVE this one AND I have (gulp) actually admitted this in the past - OL coaching is the one area of the team where you HAVE to have a guy that can teach.
Why?
Because it takes a while to make a player out of your average OL recruit. That OL bunch was bad. Stout inhereted IMO the worst unit on the team abs has the toughest job.
I think this upcoming season will say A LOT about him. His unit did get better. But for me it still wasn't good enough. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until this time next year...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I guess we agree on more than you think Truth. I like Stoutland and expect our O-line to be better next year even with losing a couple from this year.
Our recruiting of O-linemen under Coker was terrible just like many of the other positions. Between the 08', 09 & this years recruiting classes our numbers are getting back to where they need to be with better looking recruits.
Posted by: FightingIbis | January 19, 2010 at 01:41 PM
I'll be even HAPPIER when DVD plays his LAST game!
Posted by: Brownsub | January 19, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Sounds like a great hire if it is true! I like the sounds of this guy, especially this:
After a year coaching the defensive tackles at Louisiana Tech, Petri went to Miami (Fla.) for three seasons with the Hurricanes. Petri coached consensus All-America and Lombardi Award-winning lineman Warren Sapp and helped guide the 1994 Hurricane defense which led the nation in scoring defense and total defense. In addition, Petri coached All-America defensive end Kevin Patrick and defensive end Kenard Lang, who was named Big East Rookie of the Year. Miami played in the Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl during his time there.
While with the Hurricanes, Petri coached three future NFL first-round draft choices --Sapp (Tampa Bay, 1995), Lang (Washington, 1997), and Kenny Holmes (Houston, 1997). Sapp, of course, was a multi-year Pro Bowl selection and was the 1999 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Lang was a nine-year NFL vet with the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Washington Redskins. Holmes played several seasons in the league with Tennessee and the New York Giants.
After Miami, Petri took over defensive-end responsibilities at South Carolina from 1996-98. He developed John Abraham, a first-round pick by the New York Jets who spent five years with that club and is now with Atlanta.
Niiiiice.
Also, good article, although I would really love to see what our Offense can do if DBerry gets 20-25 carries. Think that would make Jacory look like black jesus again...
Posted by: conch salad | January 19, 2010 at 01:42 PM
Look at Jamal Reid as being in this class then. Also corners move to safety all the time and we have a few solid-sized corners that might end up at safety before their careers are done.
Posted by: DZ8 | January 19, 2010 at 01:42 PM
Kid is going to be a Senior this year. He's obviously a RB and on Defense, he just lines up on which ever end he wants and rushes to the person with the ball.
Posted by: Six | January 19, 2010 at 01:37 PM
Six.
Can you say DJ William Redux!
Posted by: bg1906 | January 19, 2010 at 01:43 PM
DVD was all hype, nothing like a dvd(quality) or blu-ray disc, More like VHS!
Posted by: Brownsub | January 19, 2010 at 01:43 PM