Mississippi State’s Mike Leach hires former Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson
Former Southern Miss quarterback Jack Abraham won’t be the only former member of the Golden Eagle program joining Mike Leach at Mississippi State this season.
Former USM football coach Jay Hopson has landed a spot on Leach’s staff as a defensive analyst, Hopson confirmed to the Sun Herald on Tuesday.
Hopson resigned as the USM head coach on Sept. 7, 2020, after his team suffered a season-opening loss to South Alabama. USM then had two different men serve as interim head coach — Scotty Walden, who is now at Austin Peay, and Tim Billings during a 3-7 campaign.
Former Tulane offensive coordinator Will Hall was hired by USM to take over the football program in November.
Hopson, a former defensive coordinator at Memphis and Southern Miss, was 28-23 as the head coach at USM after taking over prior to the 2016 season. He also had a 32-17 mark in four seasons as the head coach at Alcorn State from 2012-15.
Abraham, who was USM’s starting quarterback from 2018-20, announced plans to transfer to Mississippi State in December.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 3:59 PM.
