Jay Hopson Resigns as Southern Mississippi Head Football Coach

Earlier this week Southern Mississippi head football coach resigned after the first game of the 2020 season - a loss to South Alabama (21-32).  Hopson was the head football coach at Southern Mississippi starting in the 2016 season and amassed a 28-23 overall record during the four years plus one game.  Here is a look at the Southern Mississippi Eagles football team since 2008 (the year in which the data I use to model FBS production starts).  As you will notice, Southern Mississippi had some great seasons, but the teams productivity has consistently inconsistent.

Below is the Southern Mississippi Eagles production rank (total, offense, defense, and the average and worst teams) since 2008 using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.  This time period covers Larry Fedora (2008-2011), Ellis Johnson (2012), Todd Monken (2013-2015) and Jay Hopson (2016-2020*).  More details about the program under each head coach is provided below.

Larry Fedora [2008 - 2011]
2008
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 6-6, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning the Eagle's SOS was plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league" SOS.  The Eagles were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #17 ranked Troy by a score of (30-27) to finish 7-6 overall.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #36 ranked Arkansas State by a score of (27-24) and their worst loss was to #96 ranked Marshall by a score of (27-34).  Southern Mississippi was the #39 ranked team overall, with the #34 ranked offense and the #56 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2009
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 7-5, while playing against an “easier” strength of schedule (SOS), meaning the Eagle's SOS was between one and two standard deviation's greater than the "league" SOS.  The Eagles were again bowl eligible where they were defeated by #28 ranked Middle Tennessee by a score of (32-42).  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #61 ranked UCF by a score of (26-19) and their worst loss was to #106 ranked Louisville by a score of (23-25).  Southern Mississippi was the #36 ranked team overall, with the #22 ranked offense and the #68 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2010
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 8-4, while playing against an “easier” strength of schedule and were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #35 ranked Louisville by a score of (28-31) to finish at 7-6 overall.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #25 ranked UCF by a score of (31-21) and their worst loss was to #90 ranked East Carolina by a score of (43-44).  Southern Mississippi was the #44 ranked team overall, with the #20 ranked offense and the #91 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2011 [CUSA Champions]
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 10-2, while playing against an “easier” strength of schedule.  The Eagles played #4 ranked Houston in the CUSA Championship Game, winning by a score of (49-28).  The Eagles were bowl eligible where they defeated by #34 ranked Nevada by a score of (24-17) to finish the season 12-2 overall.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #29 ranked UCF by a score of (30-29) and their worst loss was to #117 ranked UAB by a score of (31-34).  Southern Mississippi was the #15 ranked team overall, with the #30 ranked offense and the #13 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

Ellis Johnson [2012]
2012
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 0-12, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule.  Southern Mississippi's worst loss was to #106 ranked UAB by a score of (19-27).  Southern Mississippi was the #118 ranked team overall, with the #115 ranked offense and the #106 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

Todd Monken [2013-2015]
2013
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 1-11, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule.  Southern Mississippi's only regular season victory was against #113 ranked UAB by a score of (62-27) and their worst loss was to #123 ranked FIU by a score of (23-24).  Southern Mississippi was the #121 ranked team overall, with the #120 ranked offense and the #116 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2014
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 4-8, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #34 ranked Appalachian State by a score of (21-20) and their worst loss was to #100 ranked UTSA by a score of (10-12).  Southern Mississippi was the #123 ranked team overall, with the #118 ranked offense and the #112 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2015 [CUSA Runners-Up]
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 9-3, while playing against an “easier” strength of schedule.  The Eagles lost the CUSA Championship to #14 ranked Western Kentucky by a score of (28-45), and then were defeated by #26 ranked Washington by a score of (31-44) to finish 9-5 overall.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #19 ranked Louisiana Tech by a score of (58-24) and their worst loss was to #79 ranked Nebraska by a score of (28-36).  Southern Mississippi was the #30 ranked team overall, with the #15 ranked offense and the #72 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

Jay Hopson [2016-2020*] - Original Contract
2016
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 6-6, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule.  In their bowl game the Eagles defeated #75 ranked Louisiana-LaFayette by a score of (28-21) to finish 7-6 overall.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #23 ranked Louisiana Tech by a score of (39-24) and their worst loss was to #106 ranked North Texas by a score of (23-29).  Southern Mississippi was the #52 ranked team overall, with the #47 ranked offense and the #57 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2017
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 8-4, while playing against a “much easier” strength of schedule, meaning that the Eagles SOS was more than two standard deviations higher than the "league" average SOS.  The Eagles and were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #66 ranked Florida State by a score of (13-42).  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #38 ranked UTSA by a score of (31-29) and their worst loss was to #113 ranked Tennessee by a score of (10-24).  Southern Mississippi was the #31 ranked team overall, with the #36 ranked offense and the #52 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2018
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 6-5, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule and were bowl eligible, but were uninvited.  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #28 ranked Marshall by a score of (26-24) and their worst loss was to #91 ranked Louisiana-Monroe by a score of (20-21).  Southern Mississippi was the #46 ranked team overall, with the #111 ranked offense and the #3 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2019
Southern Mississippi finished the regular season at 7-5, while playing against an “average” strength of schedule and were bowl eligible where they were defeated by #44 ranked Tulane by a score of (13-30).  Southern Mississippi's best regular season victory was against #56 ranked UAB by a score of (37-2) and their worst loss was to #72 ranked Mississippi State by a score of (15-38).  Southern Mississippi was the #75 ranked team overall, with the #72 ranked offense and the #80 ranked defense using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.

2020
Southern Mississippi lost their first game of the season to South Alabama by a score of (21-32) and after the game head coach Jay Hopson resigned. It is not possible to ascertain the production of the team given the limited amount of data from a partial week of play.