Jay Hopson Named New Head Football Coach at Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WCBI) — Jay Hopson is moving on up and staying in state.

The head coach of the Alcorn State Braves accepted the job to become the new head football coach of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Saturday night.

Hopson, the first white head coach in the history of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, led the Braves to the SWAC Championship each of the last two years. His 32-17 record in his four years in Lorman is one of the best marks in school history.

(Photo: Charles A. Smith)

A native of Vicksburg, Hopson had two stints with the Golden Eagles, most notably from 2005-2007 where he earned the All-American Football Foundation’s Top Assistant Coach award in his final year in Hattiesburg.

From there, Hopson spent two seasons at Michigan where he served as linebackers coach. He was defensive coordinator at Memphis from 2010-11 before taking the job at Alcorn State.

Hopson graduated from Ole Miss with a bachelor’s degree in business administration (1992), and received a master’s of health in physical education and recreation from Delta State (1994).