The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has its third defensive coordinator in the past five weeks, Mocs coach Rodney Allison said Saturday.
The hiring of Dick Hopkins, a college coach for more than 30 years, capped a week that included the departure of three more UTC assistants. Hopkins replaces David Bibee, who Thursday was introduced as the new safeties coach at Middle Tennessee State.
Allison promoted Bibee to defensive coordinator in late January after Billy Taylor left for Tennessee Tech, but Allison quickly had to start looking for someone else once Bibee interviewed at MTSU in mid-February. Allison said Hopkins’ was the first, and only, name that came to mind.
“As soon as I got any inkling that David was interviewing up at Middle, I got on the phone and called Dick,” he said. “He was the only person I called about the job.
“His experience is incredible, and to be able to get somebody like him to come in here is outstanding.”
Hopkins was the defensive coordinator at Rhode Island the past two seasons, and before that he was in charge of The Citadel’s defense for two seasons. The Mocs went 1-1 against The Citadel in their Southern Conference games during Hopkins’ tenure with the Bulldogs.
Rhode Island was second in the Atlantic 10 last season in pass defense, allowing 159.4 yards per game, but last in rushing defense (216.0) and ninth in total defense (375.4). After going 4-7 last season, the Rams made a coaching change and Hopkins was not retained by new coach Darren Rizzi.
Hopkins, who played at Florida State in the early 1970s, was the defensive coordinator at James Madison for five years before going to The Citadel. He has coached at numerous Football Bowl Subdivision programs and was the defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt from 1986 to ’88.
Allison and Hopkins have been friends for many years and their paths have crossed often during their careers; both have worked for and are good friends with Tommy Bowden, for whom Hopkins worked at Tulane and Allison at Clemson.
“I’m excited about being here because I enjoy Rodney so much,” Hopkins said. “He’s a great guy, it’s a great conference and looking around here, there’s some talent here.”
The Mocs’ base defense under Taylor featured a three-man front with four linebackers, while Hopkins used a 4-3 defense at Rhode Island. Allison said the plan for now is to stick with the 3-4 as the base formation because it better suits UTC’s personnel, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some new wrinkles in the defense.
“We’ve already had a lot of discussions about implementing some four-man fronts,” Allison said. “Hoppy can adapt to our kids, and I know he’s going to make our defense better.”
John Frierson is in his fifth year at the Times Free Press and fifth year covering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics. The bulk of his time is spent covering Mocs football, but he also writes about women’s basketball and the big-picture issues and news involving the athletic department. A native of Athens, Ga., John grew up a few hundred yards from the University of Georgia campus. Instead of becoming a Bulldog he attended Ole ...
