While Hopson had modest success at Southern Miss, his tenure was viewed much more closely for issues off the field than success on it. He sparred openly with the university president after attempting to hire Art Briles as the offensive coordinator in February of 2019. Hopson released a bizarre statement in the aftermath, noting that he disagreed with the president.
Soon after,
The Athletic reported a story that Southern Miss recruited a junior college player accused of raping two women at knifepoint without disclosing the accusations to his administration. After the recruit’s past arose publicly, The Athletic reported that the player was denied admission.
Hopson was hired by former USM athletic director Bill McGillis, who is now the athletic director at San Diego. Southern Miss AD Jeremy McClain will make the next hire.
The Hopson hire was strange from the start, as he’d had success at Alcorn State but was generally off the radar. Southern Miss has a solid history as it’s a place where Jeff Bower dominated (1991-07), Larry Fedora thrived (12-2 in 2011) and Todd Monken showed promise (9-5 in 2015) before scooting to the NFL.
(The notable exception here was the school’s epic miss on Ellis Johnson, who went winless in 2012.)
The school has been hamstrung by financial issues. Hopson’s $500,000 annual salary ranked lowest among Conference USA coaches last season.
