Shreveport's Hometown Hurricane
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
During his time at Miami, he was unbeaten against both Florida and Florida State.
He posted wins in both the Orange Bowl and the Peach Bowl. And he put together an impressive 20-5 record during his two-year run as the Hurricanes’ starting quarterback.
But none of that is why Brock Berlin, maybe more than anyone, understands what his alma mater will face when it takes the field Thursday in Shreveport for its Walk-On’s Independence Bowl showdown with a Louisiana Tech team looking for its first 10-win season since 1984.
A Shreveport native who grew up and still lives about an hour from Tech’s campus in Ruston, Berlin expects the Bulldogs will give the Hurricanes everything they can handle this week.
And that, he says, will make for a challenge.
“These guys are hungry. This is basically like a home game for them and I can tell you that just hearing the talk around town and knowing this team and these people, there’s nothing better for them than to go out and beat the University of Miami,” said Berlin, whose still lives in Shreveport and calls the city home. “You talk about serious bragging rights, for them, that’s what this is about. It’s about going out there and getting a big victory against the University of Miami. It would be a huge, huge win for them.
“Our guys will have to come ready to play them, there’s no doubt about it.”
There’s no doubt, too, that at least this week, Berlin is largely in uncharted territory at home, where he’s likely the only one that will be cheering for the visitors from Coral Gables.
Both of his parents attended Louisiana Tech. So did his siblings. His wife Amy is a Bulldog, too.
But that won’t stop Berlin from not only cheering the Hurricanes, but spending some time with Miami’s players and coaches ahead of Thursday’s game.
For him, this game and this week are both extremely personal.
“I always tell people that to wear that ‘U’ on your helmet, to represent that, is to be a part of something that’s so big and yet so small at the same time. It’s a fraternity not many people can say they’re a part of,” Berlin said. “That ‘U,’ everyone around the nation knows what that stands for. And everything we did, we competed in, we worked hard in, we took pride in.
“It didn’t matter what we were doing, we gave it our all. And that was something I appreciated so much that I’ve carried it on throughout my life. It’s a winning attitude and that’s part of the University of Miami. … That attitude, learning how to compete and win, I carry that on in my life and try to teach my kids. It’s something I’ll have with me the rest of my life.”
Winning is something Berlin did plenty of, both in Louisiana as a three-time state champion at Evangel Christian and later as a starter for the Hurricanes.
Though he signed with Florida coming out of high school, Berlin eventually transferred to Miami and after sitting out the 2002 season to satisfy NCAA requirements, picked up his first win as a Hurricane against his hometown team, Louisiana Tech.
His second game in orange and green is still remembered as one of the biggest comebacks in the program’s history, with Berlin rallying the Hurricanes from a 23-point deficit against his former team, the Gators.
The final score that night in the Orange Bowl? Miami 38, Florida 33, with Berlin throwing for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
“I always tell people it was such a neat story the way my career started at Miami. To be able to come home and play my first game in my hometown, against Louisiana Tech – where my family went to school – it’s hard to make something up like that,” Berlin said. “Then to follow it up the next week, my first start in the Orange Bowl against the University of Florida, my former team, and to have a big victory like that, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Berlin went on to pick up more than a few big wins as a Hurricane and though he was never able to capture the national championship he and his teammates so desperately wanted, Berlin knows his time at Miami and the experiences he had in Coral Gables were beyond special.
And that – along with a win – is what he’s hoping the current Hurricanes take from their experience this week in his hometown.
“Going back to my bowl games, those were some of my most fun memories,” Berlin said. “You remember those for a lifetime. Bowl trips are so fun. That’s what I always tell the guys. Enjoy these experiences because they go by so fast. You’ll look back and it will be gone. Don’t be in a hurry to have this time end.”
These days, Berlin is working in medical sales for a Johnson & Johnson company. A father of three, he’s actively involved in coaching his son Briggs’ baseball, football and basketball teams. And he’s the loudest dad in the stands when his daughters Gracie and Eva take the floor in various competitive cheerleading events throughout the year.
This week, though, he hopes to spend part of his time reconnecting with his past – and hopefully, inspiring the Hurricanes as they start looking ahead to the future, too.
“Every bowl game, no matter what, is special. It shows what you’ve done and the work you’ve put in. I think for these guys, it’s about finishing the season with a bang, getting a big win and going into next year getting themselves prepared for a big season,” Berlin said. “This is a stepping block to where we want to be. … The attitude and the mentality at Miami is to compete for national championships. We know we want to be better and every game is the next step toward getting better. This can be our next step toward starting out 2020 the way we want to start off.”
