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News Nuggets, 01.14.06
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Former ECU assistant Berry joins staff at Miami

Former Army coach and onetime East Carolina assistant Todd Berry was hired by Miami as quarterbacks coach Friday, the first hiring by the Hurricanes since four longtime assistants were fired earlier this month.

Berry played under Miami coach Larry Coker when he was an assistant at Tulsa in the early 1980s.

Berry spent the past two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana-Monroe. He was fired by Army in October 2003 after going 5-35 over three seasons and part of a fourth.

During his 1992-95 stint as offensive coordinator at East Carolina under then head coach Steve Logan, the Pirates constructed an innovative, pass-oriented offense that helped secure back-to-back Liberty Bowl berths in 1994-95.

ECU's success helped Berry land the head coaching position at Illinois State in 1996, where he resurrected the long-dormant I-AA program and led the Redbirds to the NCAA playoffs in 1998 and 1999.

"Without question he will help our offense move forward," Coker said. "Todd has turned down opportunities to coach in the NFL, so we're pleased to have him as part of our offensive staff."

The Hurricanes were 9-3 this past season, which ended with a 40-3 loss to LSU in the Peach Bowl. Three days after that defeat — Miami's worst bowl loss ever — Coker fired offensive line coach Art Kehoe, offensive coordinator Dan Werner and running backs coach Don Soldinger, plus linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves.

Coker said he hasn't decided who will serve as offensive coordinator or if there will be any major schematic changes.

Berry's team at Louisiana-Monroe this past season featured quarterback Steven Jyles, who was the Sun Belt Conference's player of the year. Berry's offense yielded only nine sacks while throwing the ball 405 times during the 2005 season.

Miami has gone 53-9 in five seasons under Coker, but six of those losses have come in the past two seasons — and the Hurricanes haven't won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in either of their first two years as a member of that league.

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