One of the state of Mississippi's top two-sport high school athletes out of Morton and former Ole Miss and NFL wide receiver Shay Hodge enters his first season as Jones'Â wide receivers coach.
Hodge, 38, has developed offenses and skill players at the high school level while becoming one of the most trusted evaluators in Mississippi football. College programs routinely seek out players who carry his endorsement.
Hodge joins the Bobcats after four seasons at Jackson Academy where he was the Raiders' offensive coordinator in 2025 and its wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator the prior three.
JA went 11-1 last season and won its first state championship in 14 years after averaging 41 points and nearly 400 yards of total offense per game under Hodge's watch. The Raiders also broke the school record for points and passing yards in a season.
Prior to JA, Hodge led and managed D1 Training Jackson's football program for two years.
Hodge got his coaching start at his alma mater, Morton, in 2014 as its wide receivers coach and spent three seasons with the program before going to Provine as its offensive coordinator for the 2018 season and Hillcrest Christian School as the head coach for the 2019 season.
A Scott County Sports Hall of Fame inductee as a basketball/football standout out of Morton High School, Hodge went on to a standout career at Ole Miss, where he became the program's first 1,000-yard receiver in 2009 and led the SEC in receiving yards en route to First Team All-SEC and Honorable Mention All-American honors. He finished his career with 173 catches for 2,646 yards and 22 touchdowns — including a defining 86-yard touchdown in the 2008 upset of No. 4 Florida and Tim Tebow's eventual BCS national championship (13-1) winning team.
Hodge got his bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism from Ole Miss in 2009.
Undrafted out of Ole Miss, Hodge went on to play professionally in the NFL with Washington and Cincinnati, with later stops in the AFL and CFL.
Since transitioning into coaching and player development, Hodge has built one of the most recognized training operations in the region through Hodge Performance, his elite wide-receiver and skill-position training brand. His receivers include some of the most sought-after talent in the country, including five-star standout Tristen Keys (Tennessee) and fellow Mississippi receiver Deion Smith.
Hodge Performance has produced 10 five-star prospects, 34 All-American selections and 35 Dandy Dozen honorees, along with two Gatorade Players of the Year and four athletes ranked No. 1 at their position nationally. Players who have come through his program have held the No. 1 ranking in the state of Mississippi in three of the last four years. On the field, his teams have claimed a state championship, four 7v7 championships and a national runner-up finish at OT7.
Hodge has a fiancé, Theresa-Nguyen, and four children, Jamari, Maiya, Bray and Trey.
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