James Walter Hopson (born October 13, 1968) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player. He was most recently the

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

s coach for the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May 1963 and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alaba ...

from 2023 to 2024. He has been a head coach at Southern Miss and Alcorn State. In the latter role, he was the first

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

head football coach in the history of the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

, an organization composed of

historically black colleges and universities Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

. Hopson has also served as an assistant coach at Tulane,

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, Southern Miss,

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and Memphis.

Coaching career

Hopson's coaching career began with a stint as a graduate assistant with Tulane in 1992.

hired him to coach defensive backs for the 1993 season. He left Delta State in July 1994 to be a graduate assistant at

. For 1995, he was a graduate assistant at

during that team's Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship run.

Marshall

Following the 1995 season,

hired Florida defensive coordinator

Bob Pruett Robert Lewis Pruett (born June 20, 1943) is a former American college football coach. He served as the head football coach Marshall University for nine seasons, from 1996 to 2004. During his tenure at Marshall, the Marshall Thundering Herd foot ...

as its new head coach, and Hopson joined his staff as defensive backs coach.

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

was Marshall's final season at the Division I-AA level and the team won the I-AA championship. In

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Marshall moved up to

NCAA Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

and competed as a member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

. Under Hopson, the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and 2000 teams led the country in interceptions.

Southern Miss and Ole Miss

Southern Miss hired Hopson as its defensive backs coach in 2001. Hopson succeeded Tyrone Nix, who was elevated to defensive coordinator to replace Dave Wommack. Hopson coached defensive backs from 2001–2003, during which time Southern Miss' pass defense was one of the best in the country. In 2004, Hopson returned to

, his alma mater, to improve its defensive backfield. Ole Miss fired head coach David Cutcliffe at the end of the season, and Hopson returned to Southern Miss as defensive coordinator. Hopson served as defensive coordinator from 2005–2007 under long-time head coach Jeff Bower. Southern Miss forced Bower to resign following the 2007 season, and new head coach Larry Fedora did not retain Hopson for his staff.

Michigan and Memphis

hired Hopson in January 2008 to coach linebackers under incoming head coach

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American college football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at West Virginia Mountaineers football, West Virginia University, his second sti ...

. Hopson departed Michigan after the 2009 season to become defensive coordinator at Memphis under new head coach Larry Porter. Hopson resigned from Memphis on September 14, 2011, following consecutive blowout losses against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

and Arkansas State. Mike DuBose and Galen Scott succeeded Hopson as co-defensive coordinators. Hopson was offered–and declined–an opportunity to remain on staff in a different role. Memphis fired Porter at the end of the season.

Alcorn State

Alcorn State hired Hopson to be its head football coach on May 28, 2012. Hopson was the first

head football coach in the history of the

, which is composed of

. Hopson succeeded Melvin Spears, under whom the program had gone 2–8 the previous year. Hopson was head coach at Alcorn State for four seasons, from 2012–2015. His overall record at Alcorn State was 32–17. Both the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

teams won the SWAC Championship Game; the 2014 was named the black college football national champion.

Southern Miss

Hopson returned to Southern Miss on January 30, 2016, this time as its head coach. Hopson coached four full seasons with Southern Miss, resigning after the first game of the 2020 season. His overall record at Southern Miss was 28–23, with one win in three bowl appearances. A highlight of Hopson's tenure was a 2015 win against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Southern Miss' first win against an SEC school since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Co-offensive coordinator Scotty Walden succeeded Hopson as interim head coach.

Mississippi State and South Alabama

Mike Leach hired Hopson as a defensive analyst and Director of High School Relations at

in March 2021. Leach died unexpectedly on December 12, 2022, at the age of 61. South Alabama hired Hopson as its cornerbacks coach in January 2023. Head coach Kane Wommack was a walk-on at Southern Miss in 2007 when Hopson was defensive coordinator there, and Kane's father Dave was linebackers coach at the time. Kane Wommack departed South Alabama after the 2023 season to become defensive coordinator at

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

; new head coach Major Applewhite retained Hopson on his staff. Hopson would step down from South Alabama on January 7, 2025.

Head coaching record

References

External links

South Alabama profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopson, Jay 1968 births Living people American football defensive backs Alcorn State Braves football coaches Delta State Statesmen football coaches Florida Gators football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches Ole Miss Rebels football players South Alabama Jaguars football coaches Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Players of American football from Vicksburg, Mississippi