Posted on 12/01/2003 6:54:21 PM PST by WKB
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State made history today, hiring Green Bay Packers running backs coach Sylvester Croom as the school's first African-American head football coach.
Croom, who succeeds the retired Jackie Sherrill, is also the first African-American head football coach in the history of the Southeastern Conference. Until today, the SEC was the only one of the six most powerful football-playing conferences in the country — the half-dozen that comprise the Bowl Championship Series — that had not had at least one black head football coach at one of its member institutions.
State made the announcement in a 4 p.m. news release. A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the school. Croom, who is in Green Bay, Wisc., today, was not immediately available for comment, but athletic director Larry Templeton released the following statement:
"Sylvester Croom met all of the criteria we laid forth for the selection of a new head football coach at Mississippi State. "We went after the best football coach and we're confident we found that individual in Sylvester Croom. We're excited to welcome him to the Mississippi State family."
Croom, 49, was a finalist for the Alabama job that went to Mike Shula last spring. He has spent the past 17 seasons as an NFL assistant, including a stint from 1997-2000 as offensive coordinator for the Lions during which Barry Sanders became the third player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Croom also coached running backs in Super Bowl XXIX with the San Diego Chargers.
A Tuscaloosa native, Croom was a starting center for the Crimson Tide under legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. He got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Alabama in 1976, then coached linebackers for 10 seasons at his alma mater before moving into the professional ranks.
Croom was disappointed when he didn't get the Alabama job last spring but remained excited about the possibility of one day becoming a head coach
"It's one on one," Croom told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It's me and you, my guys and your guys, let's see if we can settle this right here.
"Bill Jackson, an assistant coach with me in Indianapolis, would always get on me. You have to be prepared, because if the opportunity comes, and you're not ready, or if you get the opportunity and you don't do well, it's going to do so much damage for other minorities. Even when I was a coordinator, I was always mindful of that."
Croom was offered the MSU job last Friday, when Templeton and school president Charles Lee flew on a private jet to Green Bay and met with him for nearly two hours at a hotel.
Mississippi State then flew Croom to Starkville Sunday, where he spent about five hours touring the campus, meeting people, checking out State's football facilities and meeting with Templeton.
After Croom boarded the jet to fly back to Green Bay, Templeton told reporters at the airport that Croom had been offered the job and was going to meet with his wife to discuss it.
Templeton said Croom's reservations about the job centered around the program's recent downfall — State has gone just 8-27 over the last three years after winning the SEC Western Division title in 1998 and tying a school record with 10 wins in 1999.
State also faces possible NCAA sanctions, stemming from an on-going investigation into alleged rules violations committed by the football program. The school received a preliminary letter of inquiry in March, but is months — or possibly a year — away from any resolution of the case and knowing what penalties, if any, will be imposed.
"We have previously discussed (the investigation)," Templeton said Sunday. "As best as we can, we've been very forthright and very open with him. It's a process in which whoever we hire is going to have to go through it with us, but I think he's comfortable with where we are.
"His (Croom's) biggest concern is that he wants to make sure he can be successful. Everywhere he's been, he's been successful. He's won or competed for the championship as a coach and a player. He wants to make sure that this program is at the level or can get to the level to be a consistent winner in which he's used to."
My beef with the double post police is that unlike them I can't stay on line 24/7 to see each story as it is posted in FR. Many times threads are posted and then drop out of sight, unless they are put on the sidebar.
Besides which, electrons are relatively cheap and easy to recycle.
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