Golden Eagle Football Names New Coordinators
12/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Golden Eagle Football Names New Coordinators HATTIESBURG, Miss.
Johnson is in his second season on the Southern Miss staff and was the Golden Eagles' running backs coach during the 2004 campaign. In 2003, Johnson coached the tight ends.
"Jay Johnson has really done a good job for us -- both as our tight ends coach and as our running backs coach last season," Bower said. "He is a very sharp, young football coach who is also an outstanding recruiter. I have all the confidence in him to lead this offense. By promoting from within a quality coach like Johnson, we will also have some continuity. There will be some changes, but a lot of the things that we've done, we'll continue to do."
Johnson has extensive coaching experience and knowledge of several positions, including quarterback, receivers, defensive backs, running backs, and tight ends.
Johnson has honed his coaching skills at a variety of levels and schools. He started his coaching career at Columbia-Hickman HS in 1993, before moving to Missouri as a graduate assistant coach in 1994. He later went to Augsburg College, serving as the school?s offensive coordinator and recruitment coordinator from 1994-95, before moving to that same position at Truman State from 1995-97. He directed Truman State?s offense to an average of over 30 points and 400 yards a game during the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
He served as a graduate assistant at Kansas from 1997-99 and became its quarterbacks coach in 1999, serving in that role until 2001, when he moved to coach running backs and coached in that role before arriving at Southern Miss.
"It's a great opportunity that Coach Bower is giving me," Johnson said. "I'm honored to be involved with a program of this caliber, and I am looking forward to the challenge that's ahead. As a coach, there are certain stops you want to make in your career, and this is a great opportunity for me."
Johnson, a quarterback in his playing days at Northern Iowa, led his teams to a 31-8 record, and won three conference championships, while appearing in three national playoffs. He was elected team captain in both the 1991 and 1992 seasons. He quarterbacked the ?92 team to a 12-2 record, a conference championship and the No. 3 ranking in the final NCAA Div. 1-AA poll.
Johnson also holds a variety of academic honors to go with his on-field prowess. He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association. He earned President?s Academic Excellence honors in the Gateway Conference and held a perfect 4.0 grade point average while completing his master?s degree at Missouri. That earned him a Superior Graduate Achievement Award from the Department of Health and Exercise Science and he was a Dean?s List scholar at Northern Iowa where he compiled a 3.47 GPA. He also taught several courses while at Truman State and Missouri.
He is married to the former Lori Ross, and the couple has one son, Cole.
A former Southern Miss defensive assistant, Hopson makes his return to the Golden Eagles after serving one season as the defensive backs coach at his alma mater, Ole Miss.
"Jay Hopson has coached here before, and he is a very knowledgeable coach who did an outstanding job," Bower said. "That will allow us to have some continuity with our defensive scheme. He's an outstanding coach and an outstanding recruiter, and I look forward to having him back and leading our defense."
Prior to becoming the defensive backs coach at Ole Miss, Hopson had served three years as the defensive backs coach at Southern Miss (2001-2003).
Hopson first joined the Southern Miss staff following the 2000 season, after spending five years at Marshall University as the defensive backs coach. The Thundering Herd won four-straight Mid-American Conference championships and made four-straight appearances in the Motor City Bowl, winning three of those. Marshall also won a national championship in its last year of NCAA I-AA competition in 1996.
Hopson?s coaching career started as a graduate assistant at Tulane and has included stops at LSU, Florida and Marshall before coming to Southern Miss. While at Florida, the Gators won the Southeastern Conference championship and played for the national championship. While at LSU, the Tigers led the Southeastern Conference in total defense.
"I am looking forward to returning to Southern Miss and working with Coach Bower again," Hopson said. "Coach Bower certainly has been a role model to me, and I can't wait to be a Golden Eagle again.
"It helps that I still know a lot of the players and that I am familiar with the system that we will run. There's a defensive tradition at Southern Miss, and it's one that we have to uphold.
Hopson was a four-year letterwinner 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/CoSIDA District VI Academic All-America team as a senior in 1991.
He also was a member of the student athletic advisory committee and was the recipient of the John Howard Vaught Award in 1991. Hopson was a speaker at the American Football Coaches Association Convention in January 2000. Hopson enjoyed a successful playing career at Warren Central High School in Vicksburg, Miss., where he earned all-county, all-district and all-state honors.
He received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Ole Miss in 1992 and his master's degree in health, physical education and recreation from Delta State University in 1994.
Hopson is married to the former Michelle Russell of Vicksburg, Miss. Michelle graduated from Ole Miss in 1992. The couple has two daughters, Virginia Hyde and Hannah Rennee.