grace sports desk

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- moisture from easterlies and- - - - i'm grace boyles, in for jeff - haeger.

- the southern miss athletic- department confirmed- monday that head football coach- jay hopson has stepped down - and assistant head coach scotty- walden has been named - as interim head coach.- hopson released a statement - saying quote... - "after heartfelt discussion wit- jeremy mcclain, we have come to- a mutual agreement for me to- step down as head coach.... i - am in total agreement with this- change in leadership and- truly believe it is in the best- interest of the players, coache- and this entire program... i- cannot thank dr. bennett and ou- administration enough for the - opportunity that they gave me..- i - wish southern miss nothing but- the best and am thankful for al- that they have done for me and- - - - my family."

Unquote.

Hopson - became the golden eagles' 21st- head football coach - ahead of the 2016 season.

- in his four seasons at the helm- of the southern miss- football program, hopson posted- a 28 and 23 record and- led the golden eagles to three- bowl games.

- following thursday's 32 - 21- loss to south alabama, hopson - met with southern miss athletic- director jeremy - mcclain to quote "discuss what- was on his heart" unquote.- mcclain released a statement- saying quote... - "after much discussion over the- weekend, he-- hopson-- and i- agreed that new leadership for- our football program is - needed.

Coach hopson has been a- part of our program for 10- years.

I appreciate his - commitment to southern miss - and wish jay and his family - nothing but the best."- new interim head coach scotty - walden will make his head - coaching debut with the golden- eagles on saturday, - september 19th at home against- louisiana tech.

- in other football news, it is - officially week one of the- n-f-l season, which means the - saints will be taking on the- buccaneers at the superdome in- only five days.

- besides seeing former patriots- quarterback tom brady and tight- end rob gronkowski in tampa bay- uniforms, there - will be another new occurence - sunday in the the superdome.

Du- to covid-19, no fans will be in- attendance- no who dat chants.

No black and- gold painted faces.

No saints - whistle.

No bless you boys.

- although n-f-l did approve the- use of artificial crowd noise,- saints running back alvin kamar- - - - says it's not quite the same.

- alvin kamara, saints running- back: "it is definitely - different, but at the end of th- day,- when we get in there, we have - got a job to do.

That is how i- approached the- practice the other day when we- walked into the dome.

You're- thinking about it like- man, no fans, and then we get i- there and you break the huddle- - - - and it's time to lock in.

So it- is what it is, but i will say - the crowd noise that the league- approved is - nothing compared to what the- dome sounds like.

I feel like - they kind of played us- on that."

- when it comes to playing agains- 14 time pro bowler and 6- time super bowl champ tom brady- saints linebacker - demario davis -- who faced brad- - - - many times while playing for th- jets -- says brady's preparatio- makes him one of- the most difficult players to g- up against.

- demario davis, saints - linebacker: "one thing about to- is his preparation is just- second to none.

The attention t- detail, the knowing different - formations, knowing - - - - different tendencies, knowing - how to get his offense in the - right play at the right time, - knowing how to stay poised.

It'- no accident he's one of the bes- - - - ever do it.

And you can tell- that goes from his preparation,- how he takes care of himself.

- - - - how he stays poised under - pressure.

Just being able to se- the game and having so- much experience in the game,- you're not going to really- - - - surprise him with too much- stuff."

- new orleans is scheduled to - kickoff against tampa bay sunda- at 3:25 p-m on fox.

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