Report: Mississippi State director of high school relations Jay Hopson to become South Alabama CB coach

The Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaching staff has seen a lot of changes this offseason, with the passing of former head coach Mike Leach and the hiring of their new head coach, Zach Arnett. On Sunday evening during the AFC Championship game, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg reported that the South Alabama Jaguars are hiring Jay Hopson as their cornerbacks coach. He was most recently the director of high school relations for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, so that will be yet another change on their staff they’ll have to deal with.

Hopson has several years of experience on the Division I-A level–he was the former head coach for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He also spent time as the head coach for the Alcorn State Braves–the same place that produced one of the most legendary quarterbacks the game of football has ever seen, Steve McNair. Hopson also spent time as the defensive coordinator for the Memphis Tigers and Southern Miss.

When he was the head coach for Alcorn State, Hopson led them to a 10-3 overall record in 2014 and a 9-4 overall record in 2015. Hopson was also named as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award during the 2013 season, given to the FCS Coach of the Year.

His best season at Southern Miss came in 2017, when he led them to an 8-5 overall record. In his first four seasons with Southern Miss, Hopson cranked out 11 C-USA first team selections and had four Golden Eagles go on to be selected in the NFL Draft. Under his guidance, the Golden Eagles’ defense was ranked as high as third in the nation in total yards allowed per game (287.4). He won 20 C-USA games there from 2016 to 2019.

In his playing career, he suited up for the Ole Miss Rebels, earning four letters at the defensive back position from 1988 to 1991.