SWAC coach breaks boundaries

LORMAN, Mississippi – Coach Jay Hopson jogged off the football field in the pouring rain, bits of mud and grass matted to his face. His Alcorn State players streamed around him, quickly seeking shelter after a grueling 3-hour practice on a soggy Mississippi morning.

The first white football coach in the historically black Southwestern Athletic Conference might be breaking racial boundaries, but his introduction to the Braves has been quite conventional.

”Coach Hopson is rough,” Alcorn State receiver Terrance Lewis said after Friday’s practice. ”I’ve never practiced this hard. He wants us to work to earn everything we get and that’s what we’re trying to do every day. It took some getting used to, but I think we’re starting to come around.”

And that’s exactly what the 43-year-old Hopson wants to hear as he embarks on his first season as a head coach. Before coming to Alcorn State, he was a well-traveled defensive assistant, working at places like Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, Michigan, Marshall, Southern Miss and most recently Memphis.

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