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By BRIAN LANDMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 23, 2001
ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. -- With cornerbacks Tay Cody and Clevan Thomas and safety Derrick Gibson gone, Florida State senior free safety Chris Hope is the primary member of a young secondary.
He wouldn't have it any other way.
"At first, I won't be able to freelance. I'll always have to worry about what's going on around me," he said Sunday at the ACC meetings. "But at the same time, that's going to allow me to show all my abilities."
That's one reason he eschewed the NFL draft, where he was told he would have been selected in the second or third round.
QB OR RB?: North Carolina State senior linebacker Levar Fisher, a first team all-American and the ACC defensive player of the year in 2000, said Clemson's Woodrow Dantzler is the league's best running back.
Dantzler, of course, is a quarterback.
"It's a compliment," Dantzler said. "When you get complimented by a foe, someone you play against, that should make you feel good and that makes you want to go out there and just make sure they're not talking another way about you the next time you face them. You have to keep it up, keep working hard."
MAKING A STATEMENT: When All-American defensive end Julius Peppers and quarterback Ronald Curry said they would not play basketball next season, it made an impression on their North Carolina football teammates.
"This is their sport; they're football players," UNC senior center Adam Metts said. "It makes them more a part of our team ... more one of the guys."