Billy Crocker will be awash in stunts and Cover Twos later this week, barking into his headset high above Rentschler Field. This is his job now, amid a four-year run as Villanova's defensive coordinator, 11 years in all at one of the nation's premier Football Championship Subdivision schools, which is NCAA babble for the erstwhile "I-AA."

"I'm still an emotional guy," Crocker was saying from his office earlier this week, preparing his team for Thursday's 7:30 kickoff back in his old state, his homecoming game, his chance to see many friends and mentors whose influences continue to burn within.

His emotions may result in a few R-rated words into the headset, meaning he's still Billy Crocker, heart and passion belying his stature. And what he teaches still bears the occasional flecks of Dave Sousa, Rik Little and Jim Cushner, his high school coaches at Waterford, as well as Bill George, Ray LaForte and C.C. Grant, his college coaches at Coast Guard Academy.

"I can't really put into words how much they taught me," Crocker, a 1997 graduate of Waterford, said. "Dave Sousa understood I was emotional and taught me how to channel that into playing football. When I was a sophomore, I was making all of Cush's defensive calls and checks, which is obviously important for what I do today. And Rik was the calming influence, always reminding me to keep the composure I had a tendency to lose."

The late Bill Schmitz recruited Crocker to Coast Guard, where Crocker later played for Chuck Mills and Bob Estock before the Bill George Era began.

"They're the ones who showed me this could be a career," Crocker said. "It always struck me how serious they were. They opened my eyes to the profession. This isn't some side job. I mean, I had no intention of going to Coast Guard. But the people around me saw the bigger picture of a great opportunity at a great academic place."

The Southeastern Connecticut Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame honored Crocker in April as its Person of the Year. His accomplishments since leaving Lancerville have been noteworthy.

Crocker graduated from Villanova in 2002 and later coached at the University of Albany, before returning to the Main Line. He was part of the staff that won the 2009 national championship. Eleven years — pretty impressive anywhere for a coach — is nothing compared to head coach Andy Talley's 32.

"Coach Talley makes this a special place on top of Villanova being a special place," Crocker said. "Coaches know that their quality of life in football isn't so hot sometimes. But the environment in which he conducts his program enables all of us to have a family life or the closest thing football coaches can."

Crocker and the Wildcats are ranked No. 4 in the preseason FCS poll. This will not be an easy game for UConn, regardless of any "FBS" and "FCS" distinctions. Nova's quarterback, John Robertson, and linebacker, Don Cherry (of Trumbull), are the Colonial Athletic Conference Preseason Players of the year on offense and defense, respectively.

Nova nearly upset Syracuse at the Carrier Dome last season, failing to kick a field goal late in the game, later falling in double overtime. Two years earlier, Nova nearly won at Boston College, ultimately victimized by Heisman Trophy finalist Andre Williams, who ran them over in the second half.

"To go (to UConn) and win, we'll need to be solid, if not perfect, in all three phases," Crocker said. "We know we had our chances the last few years. And this year, we have a couple of Connecticut kids who got no look from Connecticut, rightfully so at the time, but still will play with a chip on their shoulder.

"But remember, we have 63 scholarships and they have 85," Crocker said. "They'll rotate numbers and we may play with 35 kids total. For us, it's can we get it to the fourth quarter? That's when the kids will start believing."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius