Few secrets about Berry's success

A few clicks of the mouse provide all the necessary curriculum for Eric Berry 101.

There’s the Tennessee safety’s slobber-knocker hit on Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno. There’s interception returns for touchdowns and a sack of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

Then there’s that mind-bending hit that sent Alabama receiver Marquis Maze spinning nearly 360 degrees to the turf. That one is Berry’s favorite.

Tennessee’s sophomore safety is humble, sure, but he’s also curious. That’s why he logged onto YouTube for a look at some of his handiwork from a different perspective.

“I just go look it up and see what they’re talking about. Some of it is crazy,” Berry said Thursday in a telephone interview from Orlando, Fla., a few hours before ESPN’s college football awards ceremony. “I never really get to see myself from the TV point of view. I only see it from the skycam that we grade film off of. I never really get to see that kind of view, so I guess it’s pretty cool.”

So was Berry’s sophomore season.

In the last five days, Berry was named an All-American by the American Football Coaches Association. The SEC coaches were equally enamored, making Berry a unanimous first-team selection to their All-SEC team. Both the coaches and the Associated Press named Berry the SEC’s defensive player of the year.

And on Thursday, Berry was named to the Walter Camp All-America team, although Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins edged Berry and Southern California safety Taylor Mays for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back.

During Thursday’s ceremony, Berry rubbed elbows with some of the top football players from across the country, including Texas’ Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Tebow. On Saturday, those three will be in New York City, and one will take home the Heisman Trophy.

Berry, who will turn 20 in a few weeks, can’t help but dream about a chance to win college football’s biggest individual honor.

“It kind of flashes through my head a little bit, like ‘Wow, Eric Berry wins the Heisman Trophy,’” Berry said. “But the type of game that football is today, I think it would be hard for me to even become a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. It’s so offensive-minded... People want to see points scored, they want to see a lot of yardage and big runs. That would probably be a tough thing to accomplish next season.”

He’s already accomplished plenty in just 26 career games.

Berry is the SEC’s career leader for interception return yardage and his seven interceptions are tied for first in the nation.

His 265 return yards in 2008 set SEC and UT records for a single season, and he’s only 14 yards away from Terrell Buckley’s NCAA record of 501 interception return yards.

Despite those accomplishments, Berry acknowledges he still has room to improve. One-on-one coverage, as well as staying sharp on open-field tackling, are the two areas Berry is focused on.

Another big part of Berry’s offseason will be embracing his role as a captain and leader as UT transitions to new head coach Lane Kiffin after Phillip Fulmer was fired in November.

“Just buy in to what he has to offer and what he wants to do with the team,” Berry said. “We just can’t have any, I guess you could say, rejecting of it because he’s the new coach. You can’t look at what happened to coach Fulmer or anything like that. You have to focus on the future, you can’t just be down in the dumps.”

Should Kiffin opt to use Berry on offense or returning kicks this fall, Berry could find himself generating some Heisman buzz.

But even Berry knows that has to happen if he’ll have a chance to become the first defensive player to win the Heisman since Michigan’s Charles Woodson topped Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning in 1997.

“I believe you’d have to do offensive things and special teams. A lot of special teams,” Berry said. “All the candidates are quarterbacks. That just tells you what the fans and people want to see. But I still like defense. It’s the best kept secret, I guess you could say.”

By now, though, what Berry can do is far from a secret.

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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