Alcorn State Makes Surprising Choice to Lead Program

Alcorn State introduced Jay Hopson, Tuesday, as the school’s new football coach.

What makes this story interesting, though, are the social implications that come with this hire.  Alcorn State is a historically black college and, with Hopson’s hire, he becomes the first white head coach in the history of the school and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

To his credit, Hopson, a former defensive coordinator at Memphis, said of the hiring,

“I don’t see black or white, we’re all purple and gold.”

It’s admirable that school president M. Christopher Brown II and his administration chose to hire based on who they thought was the best person for the job.  Still, we live in an era where minority head coaches are a real scarcity.  It has to be disheartening for some that Alcorn State has added to this disparity.

That being said, winning does trump everything, and if Alcorn State improves from its abysmal 2-8 record last year, the hiring of a white coach won’t be an issue.

Photo Credit: mssportsmagazine.com

Steve Rosenberg
Originally from New Jersey. Went to THE American University. You may have heard of our famous yearly undefeated football program. After school, I've continued to stay in the D.C. area. There are three things in life that matter...sports, Springsteen, and Simpsons (older years at least).