The Croom Years

Let me start with this. Sylvester Croom is a great man. In short, he did what we needed him to do. Well, sort of. He came in and replaced probably the best coach in MSU history in Jackie Sherrill. (Old people, don't give me the Darrel Royal crap. He left us. While he is one of the best coaches in the history of the game, he didn't accomplish those feats here.) Jackie put us on the map. Before Jackie, we had been to 6 bowls in history. In Jackie's first 10 years, he took us to 6 bowls. Whether he did it by questionable means or not, he won football games. Something that our fanbase had never been used to on a consistent basis. He brought in talent and won with stellar defenses and an efficient enough offense. Enough on the JWS history lesson though.

Croom stepped into a tough situation. He had no head coaching experience whatsoever and was raised on the roots of the Bear Bryant pound and grind brand of football. He was traditional to say the least in his coaching philosophy. He came hear with the intentions of cleaning up the program. He did that, with a few exceptions, i.e. Mike Brown incident (though I think Brown is a good person, he just screwed up). Croom brought boys into his program and did his best to turn them into successful men. He did not recruit just on talent alone. He wanted guys that could play football, and be an asset to the community. I applaud him for that. However, he was hired to win football games, and get MSU back to Atlanta. He was unsuccessful. Some say he needed more time. Some say he had some bad luck. Well, folks, numbers don't lie. His offense were pathetic. His teams only finished better than 100th in total offense just one season throughout his tenure. While I agree that defense wins championships, I'd be willing to bet that no team has ever won the SEC title with an offense that ranked as low as ours did. Croom was too stubborn to change his philosophies. Football has changed since the days when Bear Bryant ruled. You can no longer win with the run-up-the-middle-two-plays-then-pass-on-third-and-long-offense. Look at the two teams that were in the national championship this year. Both scored nearly 50 points a game.

Getting away from the offensive woes. Another excuse some fans pose is that he was left with no talent. In no way, shape, or form is that excuse plausible. Jackie's last 3 recruiting class all ranked in the top 25. One finishing around the top 10 I believe. Croom ran most of them off. Rightfully so in the case of Nick Turner, but some of the others, he simply refused to play them because they weren't his recruits. Take for instance the curious case of Keith Andrews. 5-star kicker out of high school. Every Saturday during warmups I would watch this kid boot balls 20 yards further than his counterpart. I watched him nail 55 yard field goals before the game. Still, though, Croom sat Andrews on the bench in times of clutch field goals like the 2006 Egg Bowl (that one still baffles me). Anyway, it was this hard-headedness that ultimately summed up his demise as a coach.

He also was not a fan's coach. Countless times he would not answer fans' questions in call-in shows. He never once explained his play-calling stupidity. What he failed to realize is that it is the fans that pay his salary. And in the end, it is the fans that demand the athletic director to make a change. In the defense of Croom, he was thrust into a tough situation. It is hard to compete against the Alabama's, Auburn's, and LSU's of the world week in and week out. But the coaches that can go to a place like Mississippi State and accomplish that are the truly great ones (see paragraph 1). Honestly, Croom just wasn't ready for the job. He should have never been hired in the first place. Alabama didn't think he was good enough to be their coach so why did MSU give him a chance? Simply because that's the position Larry Templeton was put in. Templeton was forced to make a decision in a hurry, one that would give national exposure and one that would hopefully lighten the probation that was soon to be inflicted upon the program. Croom was the right choice for that. National publications applauded us for hiring the SEC's first black coach. And the hiring also put the NCAA in a tough position regarding the probation that was forthcoming. They couldn't be too harsh on the SEC's first black coach.

Croom's tenure here was full of disappointments. The losses to the Maines, UABs, Tulanes, and Houston are just a couple of examples. Another one could be the 2008 spring game. One that ended regulation in a tie. How pathetic. Croom refused to cut loose assistants when it was obvious a change needed to be made. The run, run, pass, punt offense got old after a while. I was tired of it. I mean, the guy ran Jerious Norwood between the tackles for Christ's sake. Yeah it worked ok, but Norwood could have had 500 or so more yards with a little diverse play calling, maybe with some options or sweeps thrown in there. He tried to turn a playmaking quarterback in Omarr Conner into a pocket passer. The guy simply just didn't have a clue. On the bright side, though, there was the 2004 upset of Florida, a game I will never forget. The 2005 Egg Bowl, where Jerious showed out in his final game as a 'Dog, was one that had me in tears when they called him for senior night. Seeing Jerious carted to the locker room in the 3rd quarter, only to see him come back 10 minutes later to slam the door shut on the rebels in the fourth. And of course there was the 2007 miracle season. One that was supposed to be the turning point of the program. Honestly, take away the Pegues pick-6 against Auburn, the AJ pick-6 against 'Bama, and the Pegues punt return against the rebels and we go 4-8. The offense didn't win any big game for us that year and that was in part, due to Croom.

Anyway, the man is gone now. He could probably honestly care less about MSU now. He is a tider at heart. Good for him. I will thank him for putting together the bulk of the recruiting class we are about to sign. But other than that, have a nice life Mr. Croom. Oh, and one last thing, for God's sake, put your cap on straight.


On Deck: Greg Byrne starts with a Bang, Diamond Dog Preview, and a Recruiting Wrap-up.