MESH ACADEMY

Mike Espy is a native of Madison. MS. He played football, basketball, and ran track for Madison Central High School where he was a part of a 15-0 state champion football team and a 12-0 state champ track team.

Post Madison Central, Mike went on to play football and run track at Ole Miss. Throughout his tenure there he garnered All America and All SEC honors and helped Ole Miss return to prominence.

After graduating from Ole Miss with a degree in marketing, Mike went on to play for the Washington Redskins. After a three-year career in the NFL, Mike came back to Mississippi to devote his time and talents to the youth of Mississippi.

Mike has over 14 years of training experience and has trained over 3,000 athletes, including over 1,000 collegiate athletes and 300 professional athletes, including All Americans and six Gatorade POY.

Mike is the owner and founder of Espy Performance, a premier organization geared towards helping athletes achieve their goals through specialized professional training. He is the co-founder and owner of MESH Academy, one of the premier 7v7 programs in the country focusing on 7v7 play, recruiting, exposure, training and mentoring.

Notable clients of Mike Espy are Jonathan Mingo, Cam Akers, and Malik Heath.

Shay Hodge is a former collegiate and professional football player who has transitioned into coaching and mentoring to help athletes unlock their full potential. With a strong emphasis on personal growth, teamwork, courage, communication, family, and faith, Hodge has built a successful career in coaching and human performance. He is an experienced high school head coach, offensive coordinator, receiver coach, and high-performance skills coach with a knack for problem-solving.

He is also the co-owner of MESH Academy, the new hottest team featuring all the top-rated skills prospects in the state of Mississippi. Hodge also has one of the biggest training brands in Mississippi “Hodge Performance Training” working with and mentoring many highly-ranked athletes across the state.

Shay specializes in speed development, quickness, change of direction, foot speed, and explosiveness, as well as strength and conditioning. He is USAW certified.

Hodge, an expert with wide receivers, running backs, and defensive backs, has trained NFL receivers such as: KhaDeral Hodge and Damion Willis.

He also trains some of the top college receivers/athletes such as: Deion Smith (LSU), Diwun Black (Florida), CJ Bolar (Vanderbilt/Alcorn St), Jordan Murphy (Tennessee/Alcorn), Frank Gore Jr (Southern Miss), Xavier Franks (Southern Miss), Chandler Pittman (Southern Miss), Jaylen Bracey (MGCC) and FIU and many more.

Hodge has also trained some of the top high school players including: Branson Robinson (No. 1 running back in the country), Suntarine Perkins (No. 1 player 2023), Daniel Smith (top wide receiver in state), and Braylon Burnside (top athlete in the state)

High School Career

A graduate of Morton High School, Hodge was a football and basketball standout who has been inducted into the Scott County Hall of Fame for both sports. He played wide receiver in football going on to set numerous records at his high school, earning 1st team All State honors. He was a top high school recruit named to the ESPN 100.

He led the state of Mississippi in receiving yards and touchdowns in 2006, garnering a US Army Bowl nomination. He played shooting guard in basketball and averaged 30 ppg en route to receiving 17 scholarship offers in hoops.

College Career

Hodge chose to play football at Ole Miss where he was a 4-year starter who rewrote the Rebels’ record books. He became Ole Miss’ first 1,000-yard receiver in school history.

He set the single-season yards record (1,135 yards) and career receiving yards record (2,646) and went on to earn 1st Team All SEC and Honorable Mention All America honors. He led the entire SEC in all major receiving categories in 2009.

Professional Career

Hodge played in the NFL with the Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals for two years, playing with the likes of Chad OchoCinco and Terrell Owens.

Coaching Career

While the head coach at Hillcrest Christian School, Hodge led the team to break its 29-game losing streak. He also served as the offensive coordinator at Provine High School and as the offensive coordinator for the Devoted Dreamers 7v7 team owned by All-Pro Linebacker Demario Davis.

Hodge currently coaches at Jackson Academy as the pass game coordinator. He has been coaching on the national 7v7 scene since 2016 and is an icon in the recruiting scene for high school athletes across the state of Mississippi.

Shay enjoys helping kids in the state of Mississippi who are frequently overlooked because as he says, that was once him.