He played and coached at FSU, but on Saturday his job to is stop Jimbo's offense

Note: This combines our interview from earlier this year with other Q&A's with UTC's defensive chief.  Meet Dick Hopkins, Defensive Coordinator at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and former FSU quarterback and tight end. He played for the Noles in the early 70s -- "though I didn't play much," Dick admitted during our interview.

Tell us about your days in Garnet and Gold.
"Out of high school in West Palm Beach I wanted to go to Florida State because they were throwing the football, and I couldn't run a lick. I was a classic dropback passer. But Gary Huff was there, so there was no way I was going to see the field. Then they moved me to tight end and I played behind Gary Parris.

"I spent eight years at FSU: five as a player and three as a grad assistant. I had a wonderful time there, and I love Tallahassee. I'm looking forward to going back. I just wish we had the kind of players FSU does."

Talk about the players and scheme you'll bring to Tallahassee.
"We'll be a 4-3 defense, and we'll do some zone blitzing. Against a spread offense you've got to have more than one package. Our strong suit is probably our corners. We've got three pretty good cover guys that had a very good spring. They have good man coverage skills, though not very tall -- they run about 5'9" to 5'11" (One of those DBs, Raeshon Ball, is the brother of Marcus Ball).

“In the 4-3, you have an extra down lineman. There are really three different fronts in football – a 3-4, a 4-3 and what we call a Bear front. It refers to our four down linemen and the coverage that we use when there are two backs in the backfield. The softness of that defense is that the corners are put on a little bit of an island. They have to be able to be good man-to-man cover guys because when we have a four-man rush, you have corners in man coverage without any help, you are bringing six or more on a blitz. That’s where we have to continue to work with our corners about who is taking care of the vertical release of their No. 1 receivers. They are man-to-man on those guys.

"I believe in getting up the field with our front four. In our 4-3 front, it is third and eight for us every down, and we are getting up the field and trying to set what we call anchor points based on their backs, and force the ball and make that back make a commitment as to where the ball is going. And we’re going to try to bounce everything in our coverage. We are not a read defense. We are a penetrating, up-the-field defense, whereas when you get into the zone blitzes, you are not necessarily going up the field. Maybe one guy is or two, but those defensive linemen are going sideways (in zone blitzes)."

You're the defensive coordinator but you also coach the secondary?
"I’m coaching the defensive safeties, and Head Coach Allison is coaching the outside, the corners. Normally with the safeties, we usually put all the onus on them as far as our coverage checks are concerned. I spend a lot of time with them, and they are involved in the run a lot. I really try to focus on them (safeties), because they are basically what we call bonus linebackers when they have two backs in the backfield."