This week on Inside the Headset we sit down with Todd Berry, Executive Director of the AFCA. We discuss the process of taking over a new team as the head coach and everything that goes along with it: establishing culture, developing player buy-in, identifying team leaders, and inspiring hope.

Coach Berry's career began as a graduate assistant at the University of Tennesee in 1983 working with the tight ends. He would go on to also serve as a graduate assistant at Tulsa (1984) and Oklahoma State (1985) before being named the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tennessee-Martin (1986-1988). Coach Berry worked with the receivers at Mississippi State (1989-1990), served as the OC at SE Missouri State (1991), and was later the OC at East Carolina (1992-1995). In 1996, Berry was named head coach at Illinois State (1996-1999). From there, he went on to lead Army's program for four seasons (2000-2003). Coach Berry then joined Louisiana-Monroe as OC (2004-2005), Miami as quarterbacks coach (2006), and UNLV as the assistant head coach/OC (2007-2009). In 2010, Berry returned to Louisiana-Monroe--this time as head coach (2010-2015). Todd Berry became the fifth executive director of the AFCA in 2016.

• [0:25] Start of interview
• [0:58] Reflecting on early years
• [4:39] Understanding the uniqueness of each job
• [10:35] Taking "tough" jobs
• [16:03] "Leave a place better than you found it"
• [18:20] Creating to "buy-in"
• [24:39] Establishing your system
• [27:53] Dealing with outside criticism
• [32:26] Developing young quarterbacks
• [33:35] "First she sleeps, then she creeps, then she leaps"
• [37:42] Little things that lead to perfection
• [42:07] Leaving a lasting legacy

Have any questions, comments, or ideas for the show? Send us an email at [email protected].