Jonathan Cooley knows what he wants from his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive backs this season.
"I want the dog," the first-year UTC assistant coach said after Tuesday's practice. "I'm looking for guys that can take control of the group. I want guys that are hungry to play each snap and be intense through the down. We play a lot of man, so you've got to have people that are hungry and willing to do that.
"People that are intense about their business every day and have that dog mentality, that's exactly what I want. That's what we have growing in our group, and I think that's what we have coming in."
Cooley was a three-year starter and four-year letterwinner at John Carroll, finishing in the top 10 in school history in career pass breakups. His Division III career was solid enough to earn him a workout with the Cleveland Browns.
He was about to sign an Arena League contract when now-UTC head coach Tom Arth - one of Cooley's coaches at John Carroll - got him his first job at Millikin University in Illinois as a defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator, without as much as having an interview with the program before accepting the position.
He went back to John Carroll in 2013 to coach under Arth for two seasons before taking a graduate assistant position at Kentucky for two seasons, helping the Wildcats to a 7-6 record last year.
"When Jonathan played for us, he was always a hard worker and a very good player," Arth said. "I saw that when he came back and I hired him at John Carroll. I saw that same work ethic. To see how much he's grown in his time at John Carroll and being at Kentucky for a couple of years, to see how much he's grown is awesome. I'm so proud of him. He's worked so hard, done it the right way and it's paid off for him.
"Even in the first few months, I've seen growth. He has his own group and he's running it and doing a fantastic job. He has a great confidence about him, which is really important, and he's instilling it in his players in the secondary and bringing a great mentality to that group."
Cooley credited his growth to his opportunities to be around some great coaches and mentors, and now he understands the need to be a solid mentor for his position group. He returns senior Trevor Wright and junior C.J. Fritz at the corners, some solid players behind them and five incoming freshmen who could contribute soon.
The new secondary coach preaches accountability to his players, both on and off the field. Being one of the younger coaches on staff - Cooley turns 28 on May 18 - he's able to relate to his position group, which he says has been vital to being able to communicate with them.
"We listen to the same music," Cooley said. "They're like my little brothers. I never had little brothers, but I always wanted to have them. To be able to affect and relate to them is key to me, because they understand that I've been exactly where they've been, made mistakes and drug myself out of it, so it's helpful with the guys, both academically and on the field."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.