βNumber one, I prayed about it,β Hopkins explained. βAnd the more I heard everybodyβ¦ everyone I reached out to in the area told me not to come. But I kept hearing, βcome.ββ
Conversations with the Manor administration, including principal Kandice Smith and superintendent Robert Sormani influenced his decision, as did a familiar face in new district athletic director Carlesa Dixon.
βKnowing Carlesa Dixon, we both came from Humble, (so) there was some familiarity there,β he agreed.
Then there was his upbringing. The 39-year-old is a native of, βthe Crockett, TX, home of the Crockett Bulldogs in East Texas,β (he emphasized the βthe,β as opposed to Austin Crockett. Can a new rivalry be far behind?) As such, he was familiar with Manor from his youth.
βBeing from Crockett and playing Manor, through my high school days and watching the older guys play Manor, thereβs always talent here.β
But what may have attracted him to the job the most was what might have scared off others.
βI gravitate to where, I guess youβre gonna get more muddy here. Where it ainβt ready-made or ready-fixed; youβve gotta go out there and actually develop that. Thatβs the things that gravitates me to most of my career in coaching,β he continued. βGoing to those places where you have to give kids rides, you have to feed them, you have to step in the gap and be mentors, fathers, brothers, homeboys, councilors, guidance or whatever. Those are important traits of my coaching side, because these kids deserve to be winners and they havenβt won in a while. And thatβs the things that weβre trying to give them.β
Itβs a tall task for anyone, let alone someone at the relatively young age of 39-years-old.
βSome say itβs pretty young. But when I was being raised by my grandfather, who coached for 64 years, and being a coachβs kid and being around football β I was a ball boy since I was like 3 or 4 years-old. So, yes. Am I pretty young? Absolutely. But Iβm very seasoned. I was raised with seasoned people.β
βSeasonedβ is a pretty good word to describe Hopkins, whoβs already jammed a ton of coaching into those 39 years. Hopkins played college ball at Tyler Junior College and closed out his playing days at Sam Houston State.
ββNah, absolutely not,β he chuckled when asked about playing after college. βI wasnβt good enough to do all that. I went straight to coaching. It was good because I had actually played junior college ball at Tyler Junior College. So right as soon as I got done playing at Sam Houston, I went straight to coaching at Tyler Junior College for Danny Palmer. I coached running backs for him, and Iβve just been in it ever since.
βI spent nine years at the college level between Tyler Junior College, Kilgore College and Louisiana Tech and a little bit with Sam Houston. So, I had a great run at the college level,β he continued. βI had a great time. Learned how to recruit people, develop people and thatβs the biggest thing.β
Hopkins then made the transition to coaching in high school, with stops at La Marque and Klein Oak before Humble where he developed a new outlook on his craft.
βIn high school itβs a little different. Youβve gotta recruit your hallways. Youβve gotta recruit your (schoolβs) borders. Youβve got to make sure people are wanting to be Manor Mustangs, right? But the biggest thing is, the difference between high school and college is that (in college) I go recruit the talent that Iβm looking for. Here, Iβve got to be able to create the talent. Iβve got to convert the talent; have to mold it, right?
βItβs like a new vehicle. In college, all I had to do was put some rims on it to make the vehicle look nice. Here, I had to get the whole vehicle. And thatβs the exciting part about it. We havenβt won many games the last 4 or 5 years, so thatβs the exciting part about being here and getting this thing rolling the right way that it should be rolling.β
It quickly becomes apparent when talking with Hopkins that heβs not just talking about βrolling the right wayβ on the football field. Though unmarried, he makes it clear that family and community are every bit as important to him as Xβs and Oβs.
βI have a family. I have a village that supports me and loves me and shows up for me every step of the way,β he stated.
βWe have Family Fridays where we talk about everything but football. Weβll get to know our community in such a good way where weβve been to every food bank, weβve been to nursing homes, weβve been to every elementary school, weβve fed every teacher in the district, weβve just done so much stuff in our community. Those things were important to me because I want our community to know that weβre on the front lines. But I also want the kids to know itβs more than just football. Footballβ¦ to me, doing those things is the byproduct of playing football.β
Hopkins gives a lot of credit for that off-the-field perspective to his first hire.
βI brought the first DFO (Director of Football Operations) here to Manor, Ebony Gordley,β he declared. βSheβs a mother, so we have a mother figure in the football facilities with us to give us that motherly heart. To understand what kids expect from a motherβs part. Because certain things she can reach them that we canβt. It also gives that feeling as a wife, too, though. As far as being proactive; as far as scheduling; as far as doing all those things.
βSo, my thing is that Iβm not going to be the reason why youβre not at home with your wife or with your kids, right? Youβre not gonna be able to use me as an excuse or the reason why you have friction with your family. The number one thing that will get you let go here or get you fired is missing your daughterβs recital or missing a little league football game or baseball, or missing a birthday, whether itβs your wifeβs or, your in-lawsβ matter too. Iβm a big family person, so those things are huge to me.β
Hopkins understands that reestablishing off-the-field values goes hand-in-hand with restoring Manor footballβs success on the field. After all, it wasnβt that long ago that the Mustangs were regular playoff contenders.
β(Our) expectations are having championship behaviors. We donβt have that right now. Learning that everything we do, weβve gotta have championship behaviors. Weβve gotta have a plan of action; a plan to win. And before you win, youβve got to eliminate the reasons why you lose. And my thing is, it is showing that we can compete with anybody. I want us to show the fight that we have, the grit that we have.β
Hopkins summed it up in one phrase: LETβS RIDE.
βThe βLβ stands for βLove,ββ he explained. βEverything that we do in this programβs gonna be about love. The βEβ stands for βEnergy.β Weβre gonna bring the right energy every day. βTβ stands for βToughness.β Weβre gonna be mentally tough; physically tough; emotionally tough. βSβ -- weβre gonna be βSmartβ here in the building and weβre gonna be smart football players.
ββRβ because football is about βResilience.β Youβre gonna get punched in the face, so weβre gonna show a lot of resilience. And when we coach, weβre gonna be very Intentional; thatβs what the βIβ means. And the βDβ stands for βDetail,β but also weβre gonna βElevateβ everywhere we go. And weβre gonna earn the right to win.β
Only time will tell if that voice that told Coach Peter Hopkins to come to Manor, to get in the mud, as he put it, was right and if we is able to return the Mustangs to playoff contention.
βIβm instilling to my kids right now -- we havenβt won in a long time -- Iβm expecting to make the playoffs,β he insisted. βAs crazy as this is; Iβve got 35 kids in a 6A/5A program right now. And Iβm expecting to make the playoffs. But weβve got to learn how to compete first.
βWeβre excited for this fall. Hopefully some exciting things going on around here.β
