Looks like he’s a good player, too, which is why Keith Patterson has asked Hope to play inside this spring. Last season, it looked as though Hope might have a knack for playing outside and finding a way to pressure the passer.

You know the deal with spring football, though. Sometimes these things stick and other times they do not. Hope’s initial impression is that he likes the inside because he’s not dealing with slippery slot receivers and he actually likes collisions with linemen intent on bulldozing him out of the way.

And don’t be fooled by a polite disposition. He’s actually wired to play that chaotic way.

“My mentality during the game is I just want to kill everybody,” he said. “I could say that I’m crazy during the game.”

Patterson has to isolate that trait and bring it out during the spring so that Hope can take on and take out the linemen intent on flattening Hope, so that Hope can chase down and take down running backs, so that Hope can control the chaos in a much smaller space.

“During practices, going against your buddies, it’s a little different,” Hope said. “I can’t get fired up to hit my buddies, but I definitely need to start practicing how I play. I’ve been going faster and taking every single rep 100 percent.”

Patterson, the linebackers coach who tutored Hope last season and oversees the entire defense now, has his ways.

“He’s good at what he does,” Hope said. “He gets in your head for reasons you have no idea, but whenever he’s in your head, you know you need to get going.”