Jay Hopson
Jay Hopson went 60–40 as a head coach, 2012–2020, at Alcorn State and Southern Miss. Share
Four seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2012–15 at Alcorn State. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 60–40 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Oct 13, 1968
- Alma mater
- Ole Miss 1992
- Best season
- 2017 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Alcorn State * | 4–7 | 5th | |||
| 2013 | Alcorn State * | 9–3 | T–2nd | |||
| 2014 | Alcorn State * | 10–3 | 1st | |||
| 2015 | Alcorn State * | 9–4 | 1st | Celebration L | ||
| 2016 | Southern Miss | 7–6 | 3rd (West) | New Orleans Bowl W | ||
| 2017 | Southern Miss | 8–5 | 3rd (West) | Independence Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | Southern Miss | 6–5 | T–2nd (West) | |||
| 2019 | Southern Miss | 7–6 | 3rd (West) | Armed Forces Bowl L | ||
| 2020 | Southern Miss coached one of 10 games | 0–1 |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 8 | 4–4 | 50% |
| Conference games | 32 | 20–12 | 63% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 13 | 7–6 | 54% |
| At home | 24 | 16–8 | 67% |
| On the road | 24 | 11–13 | 46% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 32 | 21–11 | 66% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 19 | 7–12 | 37% |
His own 51 games on file, 2016–2020, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Wilson 2016–2019 | 3–1 | UTSA | 4 | |
| Skip Holtz 2016–2019 | 3–1 | Louisiana Tech | 4 | |
| Seth Littrell 2016–2019 | 1–3 | North Texas | 4 | |
| Doc Holliday 2016–2018 | 3–0 | Marshall | 3 | |
| Brad Lambert 2016–2018 | 1–2 | Charlotte | 3 | |
| Bill Clark 2017–2019 | 1–2 | UAB | 3 |
Jay Hopson’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Riceseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| UTEPseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Louisiana Techseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| UTSAseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| North Texasseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Marshallseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| UABseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Charlotteseries | 3 | 1–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Tulane | Graduate assistant | |
| 1993 | Delta State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1994 | LSU | Graduate assistant | |
| 1995 | Florida | Graduate assistant | |
| 1996–2000 | Marshall | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2001–03 | Southern Miss | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2004 | Ole Miss | Defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2005 | Southern Miss | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2006–07 | Southern Miss | Defensive coordinator and middle linebackers coach | |
| 2008–09 | Michigan | Linebackers coach | |
| 2010–11 | Memphis | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2012–15 | Alcorn State | Head coach | |
| 2016–20 | Southern Miss | Head coach | |
| 2021–22 | Mississippi State | Defensive assistant and DHSR | |
| 2023–24 | South Alabama | Cornerbacks coach | |
| 2025–present | Starkville High School high school | AD |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Buddy TeevensTulane
- Curley HallmanLSU
- Steve SpurrierFlorida
- Bob PruettMarshall
- Jeff BowerSouthern Miss
- David CutcliffeOle Miss
- Rich RodriguezMichigan
- Larry PorterMemphis
- Mike LeachMississippi State
- Zach ArnettMississippi State
- Kane WommackSouth Alabama
- Major ApplewhiteSouth Alabama
Assistants who became head coaches
- Cedric ThomasArkansas–Pine Bluff, Mississippi Delta, Alcorn State
- Willie SimmonsPrairie View A&M, Florida A&M, Florida International
- Mickey JosephNebraska, Langston, Grambling
- Shannon HarrisDC Defenders
- Tim BillingsSouthern Miss, Southeast Missouri State
- Scotty WaldenAustin Peay, Southern Miss, UTEP, East Texas Baptist
- Reed StringerSouthern Miss
- Rick MinterCincinnati, Marshall
Worked under (12)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buddy Teevens | Tulane | 1992 | Graduate assistant | |
| Curley Hallman | LSU | 1994 | Graduate assistant | |
| Steve Spurrier | Florida | 1995 | Graduate assistant | |
| Bob Pruett | Marshall | 1996–2000 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Jeff Bower | Southern Miss | 2001–07 | 2001–03: defensive backs coach; 2005: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2006–07: defensive coordinator and middle linebackers coach | |
| David Cutcliffe | Ole Miss | 2004 | Defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Rich Rodriguez | Michigan | 2008–09 | Linebackers coach | |
| Larry Porter | Memphis | 2010–11 | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Mike Leach | Mississippi State | 2021–22 | Defensive assistant and DHSR | |
| Zach Arnett | Mississippi State | 2022 | Defensive assistant and DHSR | |
| Kane Wommack | South Alabama | 2023 | Cornerbacks coach | |
| Major Applewhite | South Alabama | 2024 | Cornerbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedric Thomas | Alcorn State, 2012–15: defensive backs coach; Southern Miss, 2020: defensive backs coach | Arkansas–Pine Bluff, Mississippi Delta, Alcorn State | |
| Willie Simmons | Alcorn State, 2012–14: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | Prairie View A&M, Florida A&M, Florida International | |
| Mickey Joseph | Alcorn State, 2013: assistant head coach and special teams and wide receivers coach | Nebraska, Langston, Grambling | |
| Shannon Harris | Alcorn State, 2015: wide receivers coach | DC Defenders | |
| Tim Billings | Southern Miss, 2016–20: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Southern Miss, Southeast Missouri State | |
| Scotty Walden | Southern Miss, 2017–18: wide receivers coach; 2019–20: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Austin Peay, Southern Miss, UTEP, East Texas Baptist | |
| Reed Stringer | Southern Miss, 2018: offensive quality control coach; 2019: tight ends coach; 2020: special teams and tight ends coach | Southern Miss | |
| Rick Minter | Southern Miss, 2020: defensive analyst | Cincinnati, Marshall |
Other assistants under him (9)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Stanchek | Alcorn State, 2014–15: offensive line coach; Southern Miss, 2019–20: offensive line coach | |
| Derek Nicholson | Alcorn State, 2015: defensive line coach; Southern Miss, 2016–17: defensive line coach; 2018–19: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Fred Kaiss | Alcorn State, 2015: offensive coordinator | |
| Shannon Dawson | Southern Miss, 2016–18: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Tony Pecoraro | Southern Miss, 2016–17, 2020: defensive coordinator | |
| Akeem Davis | Southern Miss, 2017–18: graduate assistant; 2019: cornerbacks coach; 2020: running backs coach | |
| Les Koenning | Southern Miss, 2018: running backs coach | |
| Buster Faulkner | Southern Miss, 2019: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Matt Kubik | Southern Miss, 2020: offensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Southern Miss | head coachbonuses up to $867,500; $15,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $1,041,667 | $500,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Southern Miss | head coachbonuses up to $867,500 | $500,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.