Jeff Bower walked down the narrow hallway in the offices under Legion Field when he came to Chico Hunter.

“I’m gonna miss you Chico,” Bower said, embracing his freshman free safety. “Remember, don’t bail out on kicks. You remember that.

“And keep in those books. Hit them hard,” Bower said before exiting the building with his wife, Debbie, and daughter Stephanie. The Golden Eagles had just lost 31-21 in the Papajohns.com Bowl in Bower’s farewell after 17 years in command of the program.

Hunter did not take it very well.

The former Warren Central star, the lightning rod for WC’s “Lights Out” defense of three years ago, was recruited twice by Bower and assistant coach Jay Hopson.

“They kept that scholarship open for me for two years, man, two years,” said Hunter, who did not make the grade as a senior at WC. Instead of taking the junior college route, he moved to Tennessee to leave behind elements that were dragging him down in Vicksburg. He hit the schoolbooks hard, eventually earning enough credits to graduate high school.

“Coach Bower talked to me one time and said, ‘Chico, I didn’t know how long I was going to leave that scholarship open for you,'” Hunter said. “He asked Coach Hopson how long he had to wait. Coach Hopson told him only to wait one more semester. I hit the books hard and worked really hard. Now Southern Miss is home.

“Coach Hop and Coach Bower had so much to do with that.”

Hunter liked what he heard from new coach Larry Fedora, an offensive-minded coach known for his team’s ability to rack up yards and points by relentlessly attacking the defense. It’s what Fedora’s defense will look like that has Hunter most concerned. He said Fedora talked little about defense and has yet to hire a defensive coordinator.

Hunter only hopes the defense is in the same mold as the offense — relentless.

“I can’t wait to see the defensive game plan. I know it’s going to be different, but good,” Hunter said. “I’m excited.”

Hopson, the team’s defensive coordinator and an ex-Warren Central football player, is one of the assistant coaches who will not return to Hattiesburg next year. Even though the Eagles ranked at or near the top in Conference USA defense, Hopson is out of a job.

He spent the last three seasons as USM’s defensive coordinator. Before that, he spent two years as a USM assistant coach, then one year in Oxford. He said he doesn’t know what the future holds, even wondering jokingly if there were any positions open at this newspaper.

“You just have to take the good with the bad sometimes and that is what life is about,” Hopson said. “Look at these guys, they were picked to get beat by 40 points and we had it down to the last two minutes.”

While Hopson won’t return, Hunter is looking to expand his influence on the program.

He is used mostly on special teams and in the Eagles’ nickel pass defense. He’s listed as a free safety and is one of the hardest hitters on the team. In high school, he also was used as a safety but kept coming in to make tackles, leaving the safety position vacant. WC coaches moved him to linebacker, but he will stay at safety in college.

“I’m looking forward to getting started again and I hope the new coaches got a look at me and liked what they saw,” Hunter said. “Soon it will be spring practice, then August and then it’s on. I can’t wait.”