North Carolina A&T’s homecoming this year carries extra weight. Although the football team has struggled, a new surge of energy surrounds the program under first-year head coach Shawn Gibbs.
Gibbs, a former assistant under the legendary Rod Broadway at both Grambling State and A&T, served as the running backs coach on the Aggies’ four Celebration Bowl-winning teams, nurturing star players like Tarik Cohen, Marquell Cartwright, and Jermaine Martin. Now, as head coach, he aims to return A&T to its traditional glory.
In his first homecoming leading the Aggies, he faces a familiar and frustrating foe: South Carolina State head coach Chennis Berry.
From The SIAC to FCS: Gibbs vs. Berry
The backstory between the two coaches is the centerpiece of this matchup. Shawn Gibbs found immense success during his three seasons as the head coach at Division II Fort Valley State University, compiling a 22-9 overall record and securing a victory in the 2023 Florida Beach Bowl.
However, one team Gibbs was never able to solve was Benedict College, led at the time by Chennis Berry.
In their two meetings while Gibbs was at Fort Valley State, Berry's Benedict teams secured resounding victories. Benedict was Fort Valley State’s homecoming opponent in 2022 and left with a 45-13 victory. The next year, in a nationally televised ESPN2 matchup in 2023, Fort Valley visited Benedict and lost 48-6.
After his dominant run at Benedict—where he transformed the program into a Division II powerhouse—Berry was hired by South Carolina State. Later in the 2023 season, Berry and the Bulldogs faced Gibbs' Fort Valley State team in Orangeburg, handing Gibbs a third consecutive blowout loss when South Carolina State won, 30-3.
In his coaching career, Shawn Gibbs enters Saturday with a difficult 0-3 record against teams led by Chennis Berry.
New Teams, Equal Playing Field
Gibbs and Berry are now seemingly on equal footing, both leading tradition-rich Division I programs.
South Carolina State enters the game with question marks. They earned a narrow season-opening victory over Wofford and engaged in a high-scoring affair with Bethune-Cookman (a 55-41 win), but suffered sound defeats against two Top 25 FBS teams (South Carolina and USF). Most recently, they lost an FCS game to Charleston Southern, led by former Albany State coach Gabe Gardinia. This game is a vital test for the Bulldogs as they prepare to enter MEAC play and once again contend for a conference championship following this matchup.
North Carolina A&T has shown flashes under Gibbs. They secured a resounding victory over Hampton University, which energized the Aggie faithful, and played close games against CAA opponents Maine (L, 37-30) and William & Mary (L, 38-34). The one major stumble was a blowout loss to in-state rival North Carolina Central, 62-20, in the Aggie-Eagle Classic.
For Coach Gibbs, this game is about more than just a win; it is a proof of concept to the fan base. He wants to restore the culture and winning traditions of the 2010s.
A victory over Chennis Berry—his coaching nemesis—would not only send homecoming fans home happy but also show that his vision of a competitive North Carolina A&T in the CAA is truly possible. This could be the breakthrough game where Shawn Gibbs gets his first win as a head coach against Chennis Berry and one of the best teams in HBCU football.
Prediction: Despite the motivation Gibbs and A&T will have to take down the Bulldogs, it’s difficult to bet against Chennis Berry’s program philosophy, which emphasizes motivational intensity and physicality on both sides of the ball. While the strength of this S.C. State team remains in question, the team still fits Berry’s tough-minded approach and may prove to be too much for the Aggies to handle, especially after A&T's recent struggles against another MEAC contender (NCCU).
North Carolina A&T hosts South Carolina State this Saturday at 1:00 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege.
