Fighting Adversity

Ask Todd Berry about the coaches who’ve influenced him in his 20-plus years in the business and he’ll rattle off insights obtained from names like John Cooper, Johnny Majors, Steve Logan and even his old high school coach, L.D. Bains. But the one lesson that stood out from all the X’s and O’s and motivational techniques came from his late father, Rueben, a former head coach in the Canadian Football League and longtime mentor to the Saskatchewan Rough Riders: When faced with adversity, relish the chance to overcome it. “That’s probably the greatest lesson that my dad gave me and maybe one of the greatest lessons in life,” Berry said. Berry, coming off his first year as offensive coordinator at the University of Louisiana – Monroe, has faced plenty of adversity on the gridiron during his coaching career and more times than not, he’s overcome it – even been defined by