Three years ago, Jay Hopson accepted his first head coaching position and walked into a disaster.

The Alcorn State program he inherited was in disarray. It had burned through four head coaches in five years, had been without one for almost six months, and players were fleeing like sailors on a sinking ship.

“Five or 10 of the top players had left the team. We knew we had a depleted team,” Hopson said. “We didn’t have a long snapper, a kicker. We didn’t have a lot of players. We had a summer signing class and had to play those guys right away.”

Rather than focus on what he didn’t have, however, Hopson worked with what he did. The players who remained were hungry. Entering his second season he only had five seniors and a good core of young players with which to start fresh.

Three years after stepping into a mess, Hopson has worked a miracle. He has Alcorn in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game for the first time, and it’ll try to win its first league title since 1994 when it faces Southern University Saturday afternoon in Houston.

Hopson, a Vicksburg native, said the seeds of this breakthrough season were planted when he first took the job in June 2012.

“We had a lot of young men that were hungry to win and be successful. With the mass exodus, the guys that were there were happy to be Alcornites,” Hopson said. “You feel truly blessed to be around young men and coaches that put the work and dedication into building a program. It’s a neat thing to be a part of.”

As much as the success on the field, building Alcorn back up as a program and a university has been Hopson’s goal. The school began taking steps around the time he was hired to become more of a regional university. That included opening a branch campus in Vicksburg and extending the university’s reach beyond its traditional roots as a Historically Black College and University.

Hopson, who became the first white head coach at a SWAC program, was part of that new vision. Some longtime Alcorn supporters bristled at Hopson’s hiring on racial lines, saying it went against the mission of the HBCUs to provide opportunities for minorities. Hopson said he did his best to tune that out and just win football games.

“Those are things I don’t worry about, because I don’t have any control over them. We try to do the best we can to be role models,” he said. “All the outside stuff, you don’t worry about. The older you get the easier it becomes.”

Hopson’s program-building efforts appear to be bearing fruit. Attendance at off-peak home games — those other than high-drawing Southern, Jackson State and homecoming — rose from an average of 4,129 in 2013 to  6,017 this season. The homecoming game against Texas Southern drew 15,513 fans.

Hopson has also tried to add a couple of non-conference home games to the schedule each season to bring fans to campus and expose them to both the program and the gameday experience.

“You hope that fans show up and come out. That’s usually a good sign. You like to see the flags flying and the alumni showing their support. That’s what makes it fun,” Hopson said. “It’s kind of a hidden gem. I don’t know if people realize what a great gameday experience it is down at Alcorn.”

Hopson, however, has realized it.

Success in the coaching profession comes with the reality that other schools will come calling with job offers. Often, that leads to rumors linking coaches to all of their past stops. Hopson, who has worked at 10 different schools in his 22-year career, said he’s quite happy at Alcorn and has not had any contact with other schools.

“I’m at home and I’m happy. I’m not looking or doing anything to go anywhere. Life is a crazy thing, but I’m happy at Alcorn and blessed to be here,” he said. “My kids get to see their grandparents and cousins. That’s special. Family is the most important thing.”

And why would Hopson go anywhere right now? He has the Braves poised to become a perennial power in the SWAC, with Conerly Trophy finalist John Gibbs Jr. back next season at quarterback, and a pair of nine-win seasons jumpstarting recruiting.

First, though, they’ll try to get the first championship under their belt. Alcorn beat Southern 56-16 in Lorman in September, but Hopson was preaching to his players not to use that as a measuring stick. Southern has ripped off seven straight wins since the loss to Alcorn dropped its record to 2-3 and clinched its berth in the SWAC championship game by beating Grambling last week.

Hopson said Southern’s ability and hot streak, along with the randomness of sports, makes it essential to dismiss the first meeting between the teams.

“I think it’s a new game and that’s the way I try to address it. The past is the past,” he said. “It’s a lot like a boxing match. Two guys fight a couple of times, and a lot of times one will knock the other guy out and then lose the rematch. What really matters is how you focus and prepare for the game that week.”

If the Braves do prevail on Saturday, it’ll mark the culmination of a remarkable rise for both Hopson and Alcorn. The journeyman assistant and the downtrodden program he took over, no longer a hot mess — just the hottest thing in town.

“It’s been a fun ride,” Hopson said. “Like any adventure, it’s a rollercoaster ride. There’s a lot of down moments, a lot of soul searching. But as you see the climb begin and continue, there’s a lot of reward.

“You want your players to have that special moment they’ll be coming to for the rest of their lives,” Hopson continued. “That’s always the reward, is seeing the joy and the happiness in their face. That’s what sticks with you.”