The Louisville Wildcats have eight players already holding offers to play college football. Middle linebacker Kristian Hopkins is not one of them.
But looking at his stats, play on the field, and his report card, everyone who knows Hopkins thinks that he should and will eventually be one of those guys.
Hopkins is the latest addition to The Winston County Journal’s Eleven Players to Watch for the upcoming football season. Nanih Waiya’s Shia Moore was so-honored last week.
Hopkins easily led the Wildcats in tackles last year with 146 stops, including a season-high 18 tackles against Poplarville in the MHSAA Class 4A championship game won by LHS. Hopkins had six games with double-digit tackles and also had three fumble recoveries.
Hopkins made an immediate impact on coach Tyrone Shorter, who came from rival Noxubee County to take over for long-time coach M.C. Miller.
“When I got here, I started to evaluate all of the film to place the kids and see where they were best fit,” Shorter said. “When you first turn on the film, you see that this kid is a tackling machine. And he is smart and that’s what you want in your middle linebacker. He’s the quarterback of the defense. He knows what everybody is doing. I love his enthusiasm and work ethic. He is really smart and can read and diagnose plays. He comes every day with a good work ethic and attitude. He’s the kind of guy you want as your middle linebacker.”
Not only is Hopkins a tackling machine from his middle linebacker position, he’s a standout in the classroom. Hopkins is currently at the top of his class with a 4.0 grade point average and has already made a 27 on the ACT. He is also on course to graduate in December.
“There is going to be a place for him,” Shorter said. “He is such a smart guy and that will open up some doors for him. We are working our tails off getting his film to a lot of different schools. He might be a guy that goes to a Samford or Mississippi College. What’s hurting him right now, a lot of guys are looking for a middle linebacker that’s 6-2. He plays like he’s 6-2 but his height is going to hurt him with power 5 schools. But mark my word, he will play somewhere if he wants and they will be getting a good football player. The sky’s the limit for that kid.”
Shorter said two things are holding Hopkins back at this point. The first is his height as he stands 5-foot-10. The second is his speed. He runs a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. But Hopkins has good numbers in the weight room with a 285-pound bench press, 425-pound squat and 515-pound deadlift.
Shorter said some lucky coach is eventually going to looks past his measurements.
“We have a lot of guys coming by and the biggest question is his speed,” Shorter said. “I wished football would get back to where it used to be when coaches recruited football players. Now, they recruit measurements. A lot of teams that don’t recruit measurements get a really good football player. I think there is a school that will look at him as a football player and not his measurements and get a really good football player.”
New defensive coordinator George Richardson is also very impressed with Hopkins and how fast he has learned the new schemes.
“You talk about a middle linebacker and that’s a middle linebacker,” Richardson said of Hopkins. He is real smart and I like smart guys. He has really soaked up the defense. I gave a test last week to the kids on the content of everything we have done since the spring and he got a perfect score. He is able to make all the line and coverage adjustments and more so, he is going to hit you in the face. He’s going tackle you. He doesn’t run around blocks, he runs through them. I think he is going to be an asset to anyone who offers him a scholarship.”
Shorter said Hopkins just needs to stay the course and everything else will fall into place.
“To be honest, he needs to keep on doing what he’s doing,” Shorter said. “He needs to keep on racking up plays, like he’s been doing. He needs to test well when he goes to these combines. People are worried about his speed. If he tests well to go along with his film, because he has really good film, people are going to evaluate him and somebody is going to give him a chance. I feel like he will get that chance and that kid will make the best of that chance.”
Hopkins said he isn’t worried about the scholarship offer.
“A couple of colleges have reached out to me but I haven’t gotten that offer yet,” Hopkins said. “I’m just being patient. I’m just a little shorter than these other guys, that’s it. With the new coaching staff, I have to relay the calls to the rest of the defense. I have to set the line call and make sure the defense is set up right.”
Hopkins said he wants to major in either electrical or mechanical engineering and that education is very important to his parents, especially his father, who is currently deployed with the National Guard in Kuwait. Hopkins did say that his dad should be back from deployment by the time football season starts.
