It's hard enough to get players to Starkville without sanctions, it's going to be a rough ride for Croom IMO, but I hope he does well.

I agree. He prolly shoulda waited for the Auburn job next year. :grin:

I know the high school coaches here in Mississippi love him, that is a good start for any college coach. His players love him and there is a lot of talent in Ms. He will take a lot of those players and keep Ole Miss from getting any of them. He won't be able to recruit against us, but there are a lot of black families with athletes in Ms. that will send there sons to play for Croom. I bet he will recruit Alabama real hard. :geaux:

Mississippi is loaded with football talent, but many choose to go out of state. Being the first black coach in the SEC will help him recruit some players, there is no doubt about that. He is from Tuscaloosa, and played at Bama, so he has a lot of connections in that state, and a lot of people know he got screwed with them hiring Shula, which will help. The players he will be recruiting aren't guys who will be coming to Starkville for the nightlife, they will be coming to play SEC football and get an education. He'll get some pretty talented kids for the simple fact they can come in and play early, rather than going to LSU or somewhere and sitting 2 or three years. He has good college experience, although he has been in the pros for awhile. He has all the makings of a good coach, and I think he will do well.


http://www.mstateathletics.com/0,5604,1_27_0_56776,00.html



Sherman hired Croom on Jan. 30, 2001, and the latter arrived in Green Bay after four seasons as offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (1997-2000). Croom achieved noted success during those four years in charge of the Detroit attack. His 1997 offense ranked second in the NFL overall, and he helped lead the Lions to a post-season playoff berth. Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders led the NFL in rushing and became just the third player in league history to crack the 2,000-yard barrier that year. Wide receivers Herman Moore and Johnnie Morton both surpassed 1,000 yards receiving, with Moore leading the NFL with 104 catches. Detroit became the first organization to have teammates lead the NFL in both rushing and receiving in the same season. Moore and Morton entered the 2003 season Nos. 7 and 21, respectively, on the NFL's top active receivers list.

In 1998, Sanders rushed for nearly 1,500 yards, and Morton duplicated the feat of more than 1,000 yards receiving in a season. One year later, Morton and Germaine Crowell combined for nearly 2,500 yards receiving and tight end David Sloan earned a trip to the Pro Bowl with the best production by a Lion tight end in 20 years.

Croom helped lead Detroit to its best finish in three seasons during the 2000 campaign, narrowly missing a second-straight, post-season appearance, what would have been the third in his four seasons in the Motor City. Prior to his tenure with Detroit, Croom tutored the San Diego Charger running backs for five seasons (1992-96). During that span, the Chargers twice won American Football Conference Western Division titles and participated in postseason play three times. The '94 Charger team not only won a Western Division championship, it won a pair of postseason contests and played in Super Bowl XXIX.

Under Croom's direction, second-year back Natrone Means set a team rushing record in 1994 with 1,350 yards. It was in San Diego where Croom first joined the staff of head coach Bobby Ross, with whom he made the move to Detroit.

"He's as good a coach as you could ask for on the field and in the classroom," Ross said. "He is a great communicator with coaches and with players. I've had some great coaches work for me like George O'Leary, Ralph Friedgen and Frank Beamer. I put Sylvester Croom in the same category as those guys."


But the Tuscaloosa, Ala., native also has a solid resume on the college coaching level. He worked for 11 seasons at his alma mater, the University of Alabama, all on the defensive side of the football. Croom oversaw both the inside (1977-81, 1984-86) and outside (1982-83) linebackers during his tenure with the Crimson Tide. He helped Alabama to back-to-back national championships in 1978-79. With his help, Alabama led the Southeastern Conference in total defense during the 1979 and '80 seasons. That '79 team recorded five shutout wins, gave up just seven touchdowns all season, and allowed only 180 yards of total offense per game during its championship run.


During his coaching tenure at Alabama, the Crimson Tide went to 10 postseason bowl games in 11 years. He accompanied Alabama teams to the Sugar Bowl (1977-79), Cotton Bowl (1980-81), Sun Bowl (1983, '86), Liberty Bowl (1976, '82) and Aloha Bowl (1985) while in Tuscaloosa. Croom helped Alabama teams to a composite 102-28-2 record during those 11 seasons.

Croom began his Alabama coaching tenure on the staff of legendary Tide head football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and stayed in Tuscaloosa when Ray Perkins was hired to succeed Bryant. Croom only left UA when Perkins took him to Tampa Bay when the latter was named the head coach there.

With Ole Miss having a really bad year, and Croom having so much potential, I believe that MS kids will start staying at home and signing on at State. The shift within MS has begun. I'm guessing they will be competitive in 3 years and winning in 5, assuming they give Croom that long.