Respect — not color — was the first thing that came to mindwhen Sylvester Croom was announced as Mississippi State’s footballcoach last December, becoming the first African-American footballhead coach in the Southeastern Conference.
“There ain’t but one color that matters here and that color ismaroon,” Croom said at his opening press conference. “I’m going tobe a part of the Mississippi State family and coach the best that Ican, deal with each problem one at a time, and I’m going to put therest in God’s hands.”
Change is already evident from a program that went 2-10 underJackie Sherrill in 2004, LSU coach Nick Saban said.
“Their coaching staff has done a great job and I think it’srelative to his leadership,” Saban said. “I think he’s done afantastic job so far inheriting what probably is a pretty toughsituation. I think he’s done a good job of improving that situationfor them.”
Even though the Bulldogs have started with a 1-2 record to openthe season, Saban said he can tell a difference in the playersattitudes by their technique on the field.
“I think their changes are significant across the board from aprogram standpoint,” Saban said. “I can’t talk about the internalparts of their program, but what I see in how they play. They justlook like a well-coached, well-disciplined team now. Typically,when you have that, you have that throughout your program and youhave it for a reason. And a serious coach won’t tolerate it anyother way.”
Setting the standards at MSU right away, Croom told the team thechoice to succeed was theirs to make. The change would be slow butsure with the right direction, he said.
“I want for them to realize [to get us where we want to go] isthey have to make a conscious decision of which path we are goingto go on,” Croom said. “We are going to lay a solid foundation. Wecould do a quick fix job but, sooner or later, the walls would cometumbling down. We are going to build a foundation that will notonly last the next few years, but well into the future.”
Croom was able to build successful offenses in the NFL duringthe last six years with the Detroit Lions and the Green BayPackers.
As the offensive coordinator in Detroit, Croom’s offense rankedsecond among NFL teams. During his four-year stint there, 1997 mayhave been his most successful season. Barry Sanders led the leaguerushing for more than 2,000 yards, while Herman Moore and JohnnieMorton each surpassed the 1,000-yard mark receiving.
Croom said the pressure of being such a high-ranking AfricanAmerican in the NFL made him a success.
“A lot of it was self-imposed mostly because of the things inour society at that time,” Croom said. “When I was a coordinator atDetroit, I felt that I had to do well, because if I didn’t, itwould handicap others seeking that same opportunity.”
But Croom said he does not want the players to feel that samepressure of having to succeed.
“In the meeting I just had with them [the players], I just
assume my picture, my name never be in the paper again becauseit is
truly about them,” Croom said. “It is about them becomingwinning people. It’s about them being developed as a wholeperson.”
The pressure put on Croom with all the media exposure mightactually release some of the players’ anxiety, LSU defensive backTravis Daniels said.
“If somebody’s got all these expectations on our coach, itreally [does not] affect us probably like it affects him,” Danielssaid. “It probably makes players want to play even more becausethey probably haven’t been getting the kind of coverage that theythought they should be getting.”
Croom said he hopes the Bulldogs take all that energy anddeliver a big win over the 2003 National Champions as his birthdaypresent. Croom will be 50 on Saturday.
“Beating LSU would be the best birthday present I’ve ever had,”Croom said.