Richardson Berkner football building a brotherhood, one win at a time

Football teams, at their core, are like second families.

At Richardson Berkner, that bond runs even deeper. Many of the players called each other brothers long before they ever put on a Rams jersey.

"My center, I've known him for 10 years now," Richardson Berkner offensive lineman Jameson Brown said. "That's basically my brother. I wouldn't describe him as anything else."

"If you've seen how we was going at it, since offseason from winter to summer, what we've put together, how can you not be close together?" Berkner linebacker Chris Miheaye said.

From 2011 through 2020, Richardson Berkner failed to make a single playoff appearance.

But since taking over the program in 2021, head coach Tyey Bryant has led the Rams to three postseason appearances in four seasons. Bryant credits much of that success to the brotherhood his players have built off the field.

"When you're not at practice or the locker room, there's so many arguments, but to me I like it," Bryant said. "It lets me know that you care about each other."

Bryant knows what it means to wear a Rams jersey. He was a standout player at Berkner in the early 2000s under longtime head coach Jim Ledford, during one of the most successful stretches in program history.

Now, he's leading the program he once played for.

"This is all I know as a head coach," Bryant said. "One thing I tell people when I got this job, it wasn't like I looked up my 10 elementary schools and put it into maps. I know where every last one of them are."

Last season, the Rams earned their first playoff victory in 19 years with a first-round win over Arlington Bowie.

With a roster loaded with returning starters, Berkner is looking to build on that success and lay the foundation for another golden era of Rams football.

"It's nothing less but the standard," Brown said. "We got amazing coaches here, amazing players here. Everyone in our system is amazing. We just build days, stack days, and grind hard."

For Bryant, the mission is about more than wins and losses. It's about giving back to the same community that helped shape him.

"The kids I have are somebody that either I played with your dad, I went to school with your mom, or I know your grandma or your auntie," Bryant said. "That's what makes it more special. Now I have more of a love for you knowing that I owe it to your mom, your dad, your family member that I know to make sure that I get everything out of you and coach you to the best of my ability."