As a lifelong resident of Wisconsin, Michael J. Hopkins graduated from Beloit College with a degree in economics while later earning a degree in history from Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. He earned his master’s degree in the humanities from California State University (Dominguez Hills). After a forty-year career teaching high school social studies at Darlington High School (for all but one year), as well as coaching basketball, baseball, and football at Darlington High School for many years, he is retired. In 2021, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Recently, he has embarked on a second career as an author. In 2025, he published his autobiographical memoir as an athlete and coach, titled Embracing A Competitive Life: Trials, Triumphs, and 150 Life Lessons in Six Decades of Competition. On September 22, 2026, his second book, The Irish Ties That Bind, will be published by Historium Press.