Jay Hopson

James Walter Hopson (born October 13, 1968) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi.[1] Previously, he was head coach at Alcorn State University[2] and an assistant coach at Tulane, Delta State, LSU, Florida, Marshall, Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Michigan, and Memphis.[3] Notably, Hopson was the first white head football coach in the history of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, an organization made up entirely of historically black colleges and universities.[2]

Jay Hopson

Hopson at 2017 C-USA Media Days
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Southern Miss
Conference	C-USA
Record	28–22
Biographical details
Born	(1968-10-13) October 13, 1968 Vicksburg, Mississippi
Alma mater	Ole Miss, Delta State
Playing career
1988–1991	Ole Miss
Position(s)	Defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992	Tulane (GA)
1993	Delta State (DB)
1994	LSU (GA)
1995	Florida (GA)
1996–2000	Marshall (DB)
2001–2003	Southern Miss (DB)
2004	Ole Miss (DB/RC)
2005	Southern Miss (DC/DB)
2006–2007	Southern Miss (DC/MLB)
2008–2009	Michigan (LB)
2010–2011	Memphis (DC/SAF)
2012–2015	Alcorn State
2016–present	Southern Miss
Head coaching record
Overall	60–39
Bowls	1–3

Hopson played college football at the University of Mississippi. He earned four letters as a defensive back at Ole Miss from 1988–91, playing free safety for one season before moving to strong safety for his final three years. He was a four-time Academic All-SEC honor roll selection and was named to the Verizon District VI Academic All-America team as a senior in 1991.[4]

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Alcorn State Braves (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (2012–2015)
2012	Alcorn State	4–7	4–5	5th (East)
2013	Alcorn State	9–3	7–2	T–2nd (East)
2014	Alcorn State	10–3	7–2	1st (East)
2015	Alcorn State	9–4	7–2	1st (East)	L Celebration
Alcorn State:		32–17	25–11
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (Conference USA) (2016–present)
2016	Southern Miss	7–6	4–4	3rd (West)	W New Orleans
2017	Southern Miss	8–5	6–2	3rd (West)	L Independence
2018	Southern Miss	6–5	5–3	T–2nd (West)
2019	Southern Miss	7–6	5–3	3rd (West)	L Armed Forces
Southern Miss:		28–22	20–12
Total:		60–39
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

1. "Southern Miss hires Alcorn State's Jay Hopson as new head coach" Sun Herald. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
2. Downey, Travis. Alcorn State hires white football coach Jay Hopson USA Today.com. May 29, 2012
3. Memphis Bio Retrieved May 29, 2012
4. Jay Hopson Returns To Ole Miss

External links

• Southern Miss profile