Jay Hopson

Jay Hopson (born October 13, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Hopson was previously the head coach for the Alcorn State Braves, in which he was the first white football coach to lead a team in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a conference made up of historically black colleges and universities.

Hopson had also previously served as an assistant coach  at Tulane, Delta State, LSU, Florida, Marshall, Southern Miss, Mississippi, Michigan and Memphis.

Hopson played college football for the Mississippi Rebels. 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.