Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson does some major reshuffling on his football staff
Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson will have a very different looking staff for 2020.
USM made official Thursday the hiring of three new assistants — offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Kubik, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tony Pecoraro and defensive backs coach Cedric Thomas.
Along with the additions, three coaches have been moved to new roles on the staff.
▪ Akeem Davis, who handled defensive backs last year, will move to offense to coach running backs.
▪ Also making the switch from defense to offense is former defensive coordinator/safeties coach Tim Billings, who will coach tight ends.
▪ Reed Stringer, who coached tight ends on offense a year ago, will now handle the nickelback position on defense.
The coaches who will remain in the same roles they had in 2019 are defensive line coach Chris Boone, co-offensive coordinator/receivers coach Scotty Walden and offensive line coach Ryan Stanchek.
Pecoraro rejoins the USM staff after working as the defensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic in 2018 and as a defensive analyst at Kansas in 2019. He was Hopson’s defensive coordinator at USM in 2016 and 2017.
Hopson told the Sun Herald earlier this month that the addition of Pecoraro was ‘like gold.’”
“Let’s face it, we’ve all been together for a long time — me, Tony and (former staff member Derek Nicholson),’” Hopson said. “You lose one guy out of the mix, but bring another back in that knows everything A to Z. He knows what we do. Another great thing is he knows the kids. He was the linebackers coach before Derek. The same linebackers are in the room and they’re all excited they’ve got Coach Pec back. We all late to lose (Nicholson to Louisville), but they’ve got Coach Pec.”
Cedric Thomas joins USM football staff
Thomas comes to USM after serving the last two seasons as the head coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, an FCS program and a member of the SWAC. He was 8-14 as the head coach at UAPB.
Thomas, a native of Cleveland, Mississippi, worked for Hopson at Alcorn State as a defensive backs coach for four seasons, 2012-15. He served as the Braves’ defensive coordinator for two seasons after Hopson took the USM job in 2016.
Kubik, who is a former Louisiana Tech quarterback, served as the ULM offensive coordinator for four seasons. The Warhawks averaged 253.4 yards passing and 207.4 yards rushing during a 5-7 season in 2019.
ULM was one of five programs to average at least 250 yards passing and 200 yards rushing this past season, joining Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and UCF.
USM had three coaches leave the staff after the 2019 season, starting with Nicholson. Buster Faulkner became an offensive analyst at Georgia and running backs coach Chris Buckner, who followed Faulkner from Arkansas State, is no longer with the program.
USM, which is coming off a 7-5 season, starts the 2020 campaign with a Sept. 5 home game against South Alabama.
