Croom

[preachermatt83]

I was just watching the old SEC storied episode about croom. He made a statement that I didn't understand. He was listing all the players he lost going into and during his last season at state. He then said "and we lost our offensive coordinator". What is he talking about. I rewound it to make sure he didn't say defensive and he didn't. He said offensive

[Lord McBuckethead]

Not really sure if he ever had one.

[TrapGame]

Yeah, can't lose something you never had.

[preachermatt83]

Seriously, he never lost an OC did he? Wasn't woody with him from start to finish.

[Goldendawg]

Have watched a couple of times but didn't pay attention this time tonight. I had a thought while it was on (until I changed it), Do you think he would have been successful at bama if they had hired him instead of Shula (and their not hiring him should have told us something!). When I think of him I think of: 1. Dropping Nike for Russell Athletic 2. Making our uni's look like bama-west 3. Having players in the campus shootout, even Jackie never had this 4. His , "Well, I didn't see that coming", remark after UNM skulldrug us 5. Falling asleep on the player's family couch on a recruiting visit 6. "Coaching" from a golf cart at practice 7. Being a career NFL running backs coach before and after us (how hard is that job?) and 7. and last but not least, more stubborn about Woody than Dan about the "country club. His time at State was seriously over-rated
P.S. Nearly getting Omar Conner killed against LSU.

[Quaoarsking]

Seriously, he never lost an OC did he? Wasn't woody with him from start to finish.

IIRC Woody was MIA for a lot of 2008.

[shoeless joe]

Have watched a couple of times but didn't pay attention this time tonight. I had a thought while it was on (until I changed it), Do you think he would have been successful at bama if they had hired him instead of Shula (and their not hiring him should have told us something!). When I think of him I think of: 1. Dropping Nike for Russell Athletic 2. Making our uni's look like bama-west 3. Having players in the campus shootout, even Jackie never had this 4. His , "Well, I didn't see that coming", remark after UNM skulldrug us 5. Falling asleep on the player's family couch on a recruiting visit 6. "Coaching" from a golf cart at practice 7. Being a career NFL running backs coach before and after us (how hard is that job?) and 7. and last but not least, more stubborn about Woody than Dan about the "country club. His time at State was seriously over-rated
P.S. Nearly getting Omar Conner killed against LSU.

All that said, a lot of his former players won't utter a negative word about him. That means a lot as well.

[Dawg61]

Maybe he misspoke. We lost Ellis Johnson his last year and the year before that Shane Beamer.

[tcdog70]

He also said he knew Maine was better than us. Also said said you could sign a quality WRs on any corner in Miami, but he never did. He also didn't use all his in home visits. If he hadn't got Omarr injured against LSU we would have won our next 2 games and went to a bowl. If Croom could fade away and never be mentioned again that would be great.

[The Federalist Engineer]

That Henig - Tyson Chicken QB tandem has to be the worst I’ve ever seen in SEC play. They made Freddy Kitchen look like a baller

Maybe he is trying to cover for Woody, so he Can get a junior high job somewhere

Seriously, is Henig or Tyson even a scout team QB in 2017?

[Dawg61]

Henig is a good dude. He used to go to a bunch of the baseball games and sit in LFL and was always nice. Croom's entire offense besides the RBs was atrocious. It's not like John Parker Wilson at Bama was much better than Henig he just had 10 other NFL players on the offense with him. Henig had two.

[Todd4State]

If I remember correctly McCorvey had cancer and had to miss a few game in 2008. I assume that's what he is talking about.

My take on Sylvester Croom:

Outstanding running backs coach.

Bad head coach.

Edit to say- I don't hate the guy. He brought some good publicity to our program when we needed it because the media HATED Jackie and I think it caused our program to get run down some- see the 1999 season. 2007 honestly was fun as hell. I don't care if we were lucky or not- we won the games and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

At the same time I don't think he left us in super great shape when he left. He basically got us through probation and allowed us to buy time while our athletic department shifted with some leadership changes- and he won a few nice games here in there in the meantime. He was a good placeholder I suppose.

[Dawg61]

I am not a Croom fan AT ALL and here's why. He exploited our insecurity as a fanbase to his advantage to justify being a lazy recruiter, to give himself more job security and for it to be ok to have a terrible offense. He made excuses and constantly touted having the decks tilted against him and MSU. We didn't have that with Jackie. We had swagger and weren't afraid to play anybody with Sherrill. We beat teams up with Jackie and rocked the Dawg Pound Rock proudly. Croom brought out the Po Ol Miss State attitude in our fans. It still festers in some to this day. **** Croom he sucks.

[MSUDAWGFAN]

I am not a Croom fan AT ALL and here's why. He exploited our insecurity as a fanbase to his advantage to justify being a lazy recruiter, to give himself more job security and for it to be ok to have a terrible offense. He made excuses and constantly touted having the decks tilted against him and MSU. We didn't have that with Jackie. We had swagger and weren't afraid to play anybody with Sherrill. We beat teams up with Jackie and rocked the Dawg Pound Rock proudly. Croom brought out the Po Ol Miss State attitude in our fans. It still festers in some to this day. **** Croom he sucks.

That's one thing I credit Don for. He wasn't about letting someone think we couldn't compete. In his opening press conference he was talking about winning championships here and reporters laughed at him. At the end of the 2014 season after a loss in the Egg Bowl, he addressed that. He said something to the effect of "In my opening press conference I made a claim that we are going to compete for championships here and everybody laughed. Well, nobody is laughing now." Don changed the way our fanbase thought. He deserves credit for that.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Henig is a good dude. He used to go to a bunch of the baseball games and sit in LFL and was always nice. Croom's entire offense besides the RBs was atrocious. It's not like John Parker Wilson at Bama was much better than Henig he just had 10 other NFL players on the offense with him. Henig had two.


This is an insane comment

[BrunswickDawg]

Croom was the epitome of Larry Templeton and his mindset about MSU athletics. The SEC and NCAA are pressuring us to break a barrier with our hire. What is our cheapest, easiest solution? How about a hot assistant coach like Charlie Strong. No? I'll call my good friend Mal Moore for advice. He'll tell me what I should do....

[DogsofAnarchy]

Have watched a couple of times but didn't pay attention this time tonight. I had a thought while it was on (until I changed it), Do you think he would have been successful at bama if they had hired him instead of Shula (and their not hiring him should have told us something!). When I think of him I think of: 1. Dropping Nike for Russell Athletic 2. Making our uni's look like bama-west 3. Having players in the campus shootout, even Jackie never had this 4. His , "Well, I didn't see that coming", remark after UNM skulldrug us 5. Falling asleep on the player's family couch on a recruiting visit 6. "Coaching" from a golf cart at practice 7. Being a career NFL running backs coach before and after us (how hard is that job?) and 7. and last but not least, more stubborn about Woody than Dan about the "country club. His time at State was seriously over-rated
P.S. Nearly getting Omar Conner killed against LSU.

I was at #5. Tobias Smith was the recruit.

[Tbonewannabe]

If I remember correctly McCorvey had cancer and had to miss a few game in 2008. I assume that's what he is talking about.

My take on Sylvester Croom:

Outstanding running backs coach.

Bad head coach.

Edit to say- I don't hate the guy. He brought some good publicity to our program when we needed it because the media HATED Jackie and I think it caused our program to get run down some- see the 1999 season. 2007 honestly was fun as hell. I don't care if we were lucky or not- we won the games and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

At the same time I don't think he left us in super great shape when he left. He basically got us through probation and allowed us to buy time while our athletic department shifted with some leadership changes- and he won a few nice games here in there in the meantime. He was a good placeholder I suppose.

Croom left Mullen with the talent to win 9 games in 2010 with guys on campus or committed at the time. Up until this year's Oline, Croom left Hev with a better line than Hev recruited in the entire 9 years Dan was here. Croom just didn't know how to run a college offense. He only knew how to run a West Coast Offense that is too complicated for guys to grasp in the few hours per week that they can work on it. Croom wasn't truly cut out to be a head coach but he didn't do a horrible job with the situation he took over.

With that said, Mullen left us in a lot better place than when he got here. He strengthened the foundation of blue collar hard work that Croom started. Next year should be the best team with the exception of 2014 in the last 20 years. Coach JoeMo inherits a great situation in that he could possibly win 10 games his first year.

[TrapGame]

Croom left Mullen with the talent to win 9 games in 2010 with guys on campus or committed at the time. Up until this year's Oline, Croom left Hev with a better line than Hev recruited in the entire 9 years Dan was here. Croom just didn't know how to run a college offense. He only knew how to run a West Coast Offense that is too complicated for guys to grasp in the few hours per week that they can work on it. Croom wasn't truly cut out to be a head coach but he didn't do a horrible job with the situation he took over.

With that said, Mullen left us in a lot better place than when he got here. He strengthened the foundation of blue collar hard work that Croom started. Next year should be the best team with the exception of 2014 in the last 20 years. Coach JoeMo inherits a great situation in that he could possibly win 10 games his first year.

I'm calling it now.

Coach Joe beats Saban in Tuscaloosa next season. Year one he does something Mullen could never do in nine.

[Tbonewannabe]

I'm calling it now.

Coach Joe beats Saban in Tuscaloosa next season. Year one he does something Mullen could never do in nine.

From your keyboard to God's email.

[FISHDAWG]

All that said, a lot of his former players won't utter a negative word about him. That means a lot as well.

I won't repeat it here but a senior OL does not agree with this statement

ETA - "former" OL

[Tbonewannabe]

I won't repeat it here but a senior OL does not agree with this statement

ETA - "former" OL

Are you talking about Croom or Dan/Hevesy?

[TimberBeast]

All that said, a lot of his former players won't utter a negative word about him. That means a lot as well.

I guess that depends on which players you talk to.

[fader2103]

I will always say. Croom wasn?t a great head coach but he was what the program needed at the time to clean it up. I love him as a person though and what he stood for but in football if just came down to wins vs losses.

[Dawg61]

This is an insane comment

It's really not. Saban woulda won ten games a year with Henig just like he did with JPW.

[Tbonewannabe]

I will always say. Croom wasn?t a great head coach but he was what the program needed at the time to clean it up. I love him as a person though and what he stood for but in football if just came down to Offense vs losses.

fify. If Croom had an offense that was even in the high 60s or 70s then we might have went to multiple bowls. I don't think he would have won enough to get us to more than the Liberty or Music City at the time but we would have probably been happy with it. It worked out in the end because he reset the program to where Mullen could build something.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Listen, I knew Henig too, and you are right he was a nice enough guy, but to say he would have won 10 games a year anywhere is absolutely crazy. I just looked back at his stats. His best year was in 06' with a 43.8% completion percentage, threw for 1201 yards, and had 7 TDs to 9 interceptions. He never threw more TDs than picks in a season. Lastly, he threw 6 interceptions the first game of the 07' season.

This thread is making people's memories about the Croom Era pretty foggy.

[Tbonewannabe]

Listen, I knew Henig too, and you are right he was a nice enough guy, but to say he would have won 10 games a year anywhere is absolutely crazy. I just looked back at his stats. His best year was in 06' with a 43.8% completion percentage, threw for 1201 yards, and had 7 TDs to 9 interceptions. He never threw more TDs than picks in a season. Lastly, he threw 6 interceptions the first game of the 07' season.

This thread is making people's memories about the Croom Era pretty foggy.

Henig was a tough SOB and had a really strong arm. Both of those things are part of what a SEC QB needs, he just didn't have everything else. Similar to Brandon Holloway, I do not blame the player for the position the coach put them in. Who knows what Henig could have done with adequate coaching but he still wasn't big and/or fast enough to start for a SEC school.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

I don't either, and once again I am not trying to bash Henig. I am just saying no team would have won 10 games with him playing QB.

[was21]

Would like for the Crooms era to be completely foggy to the point where I don't remember it

[FISHDAWG]

Are you talking about Croom or Dan/Hevesy?

Croom

[The Federalist Engineer]

Listen, I knew Henig too, and you are right he was a nice enough guy, but to say he would have won 10 games a year anywhere is absolutely crazy. I just looked back at his stats. His best year was in 06' with a 43.8% completion percentage, threw for 1201 yards, and had 7 TDs to 9 interceptions. He never threw more TDs than picks in a season. Lastly, he threw 6 interceptions the first game of the 07' season.

This thread is making people's memories about the Croom Era pretty foggy.

The first 2007 game, against LSU, basically made Craig Steltz' a draftable player by a really stupid NFL franchise called the "Chicago Bears"...in the 4th round

Virtually all of Steltz' highlights during the draft show were against Henig and MSU

Steltz should send Henig a Christmas card for letting him look like Ronny Lott for a night

Your right about this thread, the end of the Croom era was very bad. Our little QB's will probably have lifetime cerebral damage from all the abuse they suffered

[NCDawg]

I'll admit Croom had a lot of faults-his primary fault was being too loyal to his friend, who was the OC and not getting the job done. Despite all his faults, however, he was able to defeat Alabama and Auburn in the same year which is something our esteemed "Dan" could not do.

[TrapGame]

Are you talking about Croom or Dan/Hevesy?

Ok, I saw Dan Hevesy and laughed.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

I'll admit Croom had a lot of faults-his primary fault was being too loyal to his friend, who was the OC and not getting the job done. Despite all his faults, however, he was able to defeat Alabama and Auburn in the same year which is something our esteemed "Dan" could not do.

Mullen defeated Vandy and UAB in the same season. This is something Sly never accomplished.

[drunkernhelldawg]

This is an insane comment

Yet it is very true that the other ten guys are what usually make or break a quarterback.

[Dawg61]

I don't either, and once again I am not trying to bash Henig. I am just saying no team would have won 10 games with him playing QB.

You underestimate Saban. He could take that dancing Zebra you got as your Sig and win ten games.

[TUSK]

You underestimate Saban. He could take that dancing Zebra you got as your Sig and win ten games.

But could JoMo win at Bama this year versus Saban, with Henig at QB, surrounded by dancing Zebras?

I'd lay the 7.5 if I had to wager...

[dawgday166]

You underestimate Saban. He could take that dancing Zebra you got as your Sig and win ten games.

He sure needed that zebra at Mich St.

[Dawg61]

But could JoMo win at Bama this year versus Saban, with Henig at QB, surrounded by dancing Zebras?

I'd lay the 7.5 if I had to wager...

JoMo with Henig and Bama's roster wins 8. If the dancing zebras (refs) are on his side maybe 9. Henig had a cannon he just needed some help.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Anyone could win 10 with dancing zebra playing QB. He would rush for 3000 easy.

[Dawg61]

Anyone could win 10 with dancing zebra playing QB. He would rush for 3000 easy.

Definitely would be a bitch to tackle. Gotta go low but he can hurdle like no other.

[Todd4State]

But could JoMo win at Bama this year versus Saban, with Henig at QB, surrounded by dancing Zebras?

I'd lay the 7.5 if I had to wager...

Sell because Alabama is surrounded by more dancing zebras on their side (Dancing zebras = SEC officials)

[dawgday166]

Sell because Alabama is surrounded by more dancing zebras on their side (Dancing zebras = SEC officials)

Awww ... now I understand why Saban is a great coach **

[Coach34]

I'll admit Croom had a lot of faults-his primary fault was being too loyal to his friend, who was the OC and not getting the job done. Despite all his faults, however, he was able to defeat Alabama and Auburn in the same year which is something our esteemed "Dan" could not do.

Croom never beat a Bama team that won more than 6 games

Mullen never played a 6 win Bama team

[Commercecomet24]

Croom never beat a Bama team that won more than 6 games

Mullen never played a 6 win Bama team

This. Bama when Croom was coach was closer to an arky or uk level than bama now.

[TUSK]

Sell because Alabama is surrounded by more dancing zebras on their side [REC > (Dancing zebras = SEC officials)]

FIFY

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Would like for the Crooms era to be completely foggy to the point where I don't remember it

I refer to it as the Croom error, not the Croom era.

[Jarius]

I will always say. Croom wasn?t a great head coach but he was what the program needed at the time to clean it up. I love him as a person though and what he stood for but in football if just came down to wins vs losses.

That?s just not true. He was in no way what our program needed. I could go in there and clean the program up. Kicking off half of your team?s players is not hard. Anyone can do that. Getting the players that you decided to kick off the team to buy in instead of kicking them off and self imposing the death penalty would have been what we needed. Most any other competent coach would have done that. Croom was and is an idiot.

[Tbonewannabe]

That?s just not true. He was in no way what our program needed. I could go in there and clean the program up. Kicking off half of your team?s players is not hard. Anyone can do that. Getting the players that you decided to kick off the team to buy in instead of kicking them off and self imposing the death penalty would have been what we needed. Most any other competent coach would have done that. Croom was and is an idiot.

The level of dysfunction that Croom inherited was about as bad as you could imagine.

[Jarius]

The level of dysfunction that Croom inherited was about as bad as you could imagine.

If your solution to the dysfunction is to start your first season with 53 scholarship players on the roster, you are not the one that needs to be hired for the job. Self imposing a 32 man scholarship limitation is never the answer.

[Bully13]

Croom was the worst hire in my memory for MSU. it was NOT his fault, it was the fault of a dumb assed weak AD. we did NOT have to go that dumbass route. we could NOT have been in that type of position to being forced into that type of ass kissing submission.

I wished it would have worked out. would love to still have the guy at the helm with a strong SEC team. Loved the "Maroon is all that matters" shit. loved the fact we hired the first black HC in the SEC. Would have been awesome but it was an error from the get go and the sad part is that Templeton prolly knew but didn't give a 17. he was looking out for his rep as opposed to what he was hired to do which is make us competitive. Croom is someone I would love to have a beer with but he was and still is not HC material and 17ing Templeton knew it.

[msbulldog]

If your solution to the dysfunction is to start your first season with 53 scholarship players on the roster, you are not the one that needs to be hired for the job. Self imposing a 32 man scholarship limitation is never the answer.

Had a lot of thugs, he had to get rid of! I will be forever thankful to Coach Croom for making those boy's go to Church and I am sure some of those guys are thankful for that too.

[Jarius]

Had a lot of thugs, he had to get rid of! I will be forever thankful to Coach Croom for making those boy's go to Church and I am sure some of those guys are thankful for that too.

Good lord. I’m so thankful we don’t have people in charge at our university any longer that accept this mindset for our athletic programs. Hey, if I take them to church will you pay me millions of dollars too? Croom had plenty of thugs on his teams. Google the arrest reports.

[tcdog70]

Good lord. I’m so thankful we don’t have people in charge at our university any longer that accept this mindset for our athletic programs. Hey, if I take them to church will you pay me millions of dollars too? Croom had plenty of thugs on his teams. Google the arrest reports.

Hell Croom had more players arrested than Jackie. Instead of trying to help a kid. He just kicked Him off the team. Whatever the laziest way to do,it was the way it was done. There is not one thing positive about the Croom Error expect when it ended.

[was21]

The level of dysfunction that Croom inherited was about as bad as you could imagine.

Exactly....which is why I don't understand why Sherrill is still held up as some kind of savior and icon by some..plus he got us on probation. If his personal off field problems were a hindrance to his performing his job, he should have resigned or if not, should have been fired.