Aug. 13, 2004

Charleston, SC - The Citadel's new defensive coordinator has gray hair, preaches an aggressive style and has coached all over the South.

Just like The Citadel's old defensive coordinator.

"He's just like Coach (Les) Herrin," senior linebacker James Greene said of new coach Dick Hopkins. "Without all the yelling."

The 52-year-old Hopkins was an easy choice for Citadel head coach John Zernhelt when he was hiring a defensive coordinator to replace Herrin, the longtime Clemson assistant who served three years at The Citadel under Ellis Johnson. Herrin and Zernhelt were both up for the head coaching job after Johnson moved on to Mississippi State, and Herrin left The Citadel after Zernhelt was hired last January. Hopkins and Zernhelt worked together for four years at James Madison, where Hopkins ran the defense and Zernhelt the offense. In their first year together, the Dukes went 8-4 and tied for the Atlantic 10 title, earning a Division I-AA playoff bid.

"When you work with somebody, you know their work habits and how they prepare a team," Zernhelt said. "You've gone against him in practice, you know how he tries to defend things. How do you put a price tag on that experience and first-hand knowledge? That's why I felt very comfortable with him."

As the Bulldogs move through the first week of fall practice, The Citadel's defensive players are becoming more comfortable with Hopkins, as well. Hopkins has retained the Bulldogs' 4-3 alignment from a year ago under Herrin, and with eight starters back is hoping to improve on numbers that ranked The Citadel near the bottom of the Southern Conference in defensive statistics last season.

"I really like the foot speed we have here," said Hopkins, a 1974 graduate of Florida State who has coached at Tulane, Yale, Temple, Vanderbilt, Rice, Cincinnati, Duke and his alma mater. "We probably run better here than we did the last couple of years at James Madison. I really think we can do some more things here with these guys, and their retention from last spring has been very good."

The Bulldogs will emphasize speed over size on defense, moving 6-1, 250-pound sophomore Fred Townsend inside to tackle from defensive end. Junior Michael Ballentine (6-2, 240) and sophomore James Wilson (6-2, 240), who shared an end position last year, will both start at end this year, giving the Bulldogs two speedy pass rushers who combined for 10 sacks in 2003.

"We are not a read-and-react team," Hopkins said. "For our defensive linemen, it's always going to be third and eight. Everything is up the field with them.

"We want to force the running back to make a decision, instead of letting him sit there and read the play. We're going to make those decisions for him."

NOTES

Senior tight end Ryan Causey (knee) and freshman linebacker Steve Spann (linebacker) have been held out of practice. Junior fullback Zach Bryant (knee) is out for the season ... The team is practicing on the parade ground at Summerall Field until the grass grows in at Willson Field, where it usually practices ... The temporary bleachers and press box have gone up at Johnson Hagood Stadium ... Senior running back Nehemiah Broughton, coming back off knee surgery, has been impressive in the first few practices. He "looks to be bigger, stronger and faster than before his injury," Zernhelt said.