Jay Hopson

Jay Hopson
Hopson at 2017 C-USA Media Days
Current position
TitleCornerbacks coach
TeamSouth Alabama[1]
ConferenceSun Belt
Biographical details
Born (1968-10-13) October 13, 1968 (age 56)
Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S.
Alma materOle Miss
Delta State
Playing career
1988–1991Ole Miss
Position(s)Safety
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992Tulane (GA)
1993Delta State (DB)
1994LSU (GA)
1995Florida (GA)
1996–2000Marshall (DB)
2001–2003Southern Miss (DB)
2004Ole Miss (DB/RC)
2005Southern Miss (DC/DB)
2006–2007Southern Miss (DC/MLB)
2008–2009Michigan (LB)
2010–2011Memphis (DC/S)
2012–2015Alcorn State
2016–2020Southern Miss
2021–2022Mississippi State (DA/DHSR)
2023–presentSouth Alabama (CB)
Head coaching record
Overall60–40

James Walter Hopson (born October 13, 1968) is an American football coach and former player. In 2016, Hopson made history as the only head coach in the history of the state of Mississippi to guide two different in-state universities to bowl games when he led the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles to a victory in the New Orleans Bowl. During his head-coaching tenure with the University of Southern Mississippi (2016–2020), Hopson ushered the Golden Eagles to four straight bowl-eligible seasons, with his defenses and offenses ranking in the top-5 and top-25 in the NCAA, respectively. Additionally, in his four full seasons from 2016 to 2019, Hopson guided the University of Southern Mississippi to 20 conference wins, which made him the second-winningest coach in Conference-USA during that span.

Prior to his time at Southern Miss, Hopson shook the landscape of collegiate football on May 28, 2012, when he was named the head coach at Alcorn State University, becoming 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. Previously, Hopson served as an assistant coach at Tulane, Delta State, LSU, Florida, Marshall, Southern Miss, Ole Miss, Michigan, and Memphis. In total, Hopson has won or appeared in 16 bowl games across his 31-year coaching career and holds a head-coaching record of 60–40 (.600).

  1. ^ "Jay Hopson named cornerbacks coach for the Jags". University of South Alabama Athletics. February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.