Can someone remind me again how Croom came to be an SEC head coaching candidate?

[Taog Redloh]

Croom had the resume to be a head coach.

He really didn't. Never made it higher than a specific LB coach in college. Was a RB coach in NFL, then OC, then demoted to RB coach again. What leadership roles did he ever have?

[Taog Redloh]

He was an OC in the NFL. What is being suggested here?

I am suggesting that a guy who failed as an OC shouldn't be a candidate for a major college head coaching position. A few steps are being skipped.

[Taog Redloh]

It's funny, though, that people would question why Croom was qualified (and acknowledge he was just a courtesy candidate for the Bama job) while not questioning why Shula was qualified.

Shula was the same as Croom. Went from NFL OC to QB coach. He failed at Alabama. Next question please. Or, perhaps the question is why are these scrubs the best that were available at that time, knowing the hiring the process as we do now?

Now, continue your passive moral justice indictment of me.

[Coach34]

Crooms was an unsuccessful OC- he couldn't even move the ball with Barry Sanders.

He was hired because of his skin color. We turned Jimbo Fisher away to hire Crooms- a waste of 5 years for the most part. The guy fell the **** asleep on a recruit's couch. Hoooooo-leeeeee-shit

[Jarius]

He really didn't. Never made it higher than a specific LB coach in college. Was a RB coach in NFL, then OC, then demoted to RB coach again. What leadership roles did he ever have?

I mean his resume didn't stand out as unqualified. He didn't have the greatest resume ever, but like others have said, SEC teams have hired much less qualified people than Croom.

[Taog Redloh]

He was hired because of his skin color.

That is the second part of what has turned into a 2-part question:

1 - How did Croom become an SEC head coaching candidate with his terrible resume?

2 - Once he did, why was he (the guy with a terrible resume) the answer to the BCA's woes?

[scottycameron]

I know why we hired him. My question is why he became a head coaching candidate.

Even if LT/Slive internally decided that we wanted a black coach, we could have done much better. Why was Croom the BCA's/SEC's pet? Why not Charlie Strong? Or countless others. Guys who had AT LEAST been successful college coordinators. How does Croom go from NFL demotion to college darling?

I'm sure he was a very popular candidate with the BCA. he had put in his time and paid his dues and there was a feeling he had been passed over by Bama when he should not have been. And I'm sure he was thought to be a good representative for the black coaches assoc. As far as being a good candidate in MSU's eyes, i really don't think our side had much say so in it. The deal was cut with us on the outside. We were taking whatever they agreed on and got off lightly with probation for being cooperative. Our job was a political compromise between two entities bigger than us, we were just a third party host.
I thought everybody knew about this?

[Taog Redloh]

I mean his resume didn't stand out as unqualified. He didn't have the greatest resume ever, but like others have said, SEC teams have hired much less qualified people than Croom.

Name an SEC coach in the modern era who was hired that had never been a successful college coordinator before. Mike Shula is the only one I can think of.

It was painfully obvious Croominator knew nothing about the college game when he stayed at Green Bay during the playoffs instead of coming to MSU to recroot (in the most crucial part of the crootin calendar).

[Taog Redloh]

I'm sure he was a very popular candidate with the BCA. he had put in his time and paid his dues and there was a feeling he had been passed over by Bama when he should not have been. And I'm sure he was thought to be a good representative for the black coaches assoc. As far as being a good candidate in MSU's eyes, i really don't think our side had much say so in it. The deal was cut with us on the outside. We were taking whatever they agreed on and got off lightly with probation for being cooperative. Our job was a political compromise between two entities bigger than us, we were just a third party host.
I thought everybody knew about this?

Does 'paid ones dues' make one think they'll be a winner?

This isn't a government job.

[drunkernhelldawg]

How does this fire after 2 seasons idea have any credibility? Remember the previous three years? No coach of any hue would have been fired after two seasons given what he stepped into here.

I do think the athletic department made a big mistake in highlighting the racial aspect. The "Maroon is the Only Color that Matters" campaign forced people to look at it from the racial aspect. That's the source of a lot of the problems, imo.

People know but refuse to acknowledge that Croom led our only winning season of that decade. His second year was way too much in the center of that travesty to think about firing coaches..

[scottycameron]

Name an SEC coach in the modern era who was hired that had never been a successful college coordinator before. Mike Shula is the only one I can think of.

It was painfully obvious Croominator knew nothing about the college game when he stayed at Green Bay during the playoffs instead of coming to MSU to recroot (in the most crucial part of the crootin calendar).

Orgeron.

[Taog Redloh]

Orgeron.

Nice, that'll make your point.

Sorry, I didn't realize that I'd have to spell out that the coach needs to be somewhat qualified and halfway competent. At least Orgeron was trending upward and had the title of Assistant Head Coach.

[Jarius]

Name an SEC coach in the modern era who was hired that had never been a successful college coordinator before. Mike Shula is the only one I can think of.

It was painfully obvious Croominator knew nothing about the college game when he stayed at Green Bay during the playoffs instead of coming to MSU to recroot (in the most crucial part of the crootin calendar).

Derek Dooley was a pretty questionable hire. He was an average coach at La Tech. Also, we were considered to be pretty damn low on the destination list for anyone who was an up and comer. Hell, even someone who you think wasn't qualified almost turned us down. The worst program in the conference that is staring probation in the face? Um....no thanks.

[scottycameron]

I was just listing one off the top of my head. Wasn't making any point. I don't think it was that important to be qualified in a traditional way, this was about something different that other hires. I'd compare it to condoleeza rice being qualified to decide on the NC playoff teams. She's not at all but it looks good to give her the position. And everybody is ok with it. It's not like she can cause too much damage anyway. i think that is how they viewed the MSU job.

[Jarius]

His nuking of the entire program is why he was in the middle of a travesty. There was a little talent on the team that he inherited. Instead of trying to do what every other coach in the world does (not kick them off the team) he decided to give us the death penalty. If you didn't know that he wasn't the answer after Maine, I don't guess we will be able to see eye to eye on this.

How does this fire after 2 seasons idea have any credibility? Remember the previous three years? No coach of any hue would have been fired after two seasons given what he stepped into here.

I do think the athletic department made a big mistake in highlighting the racial aspect. The "Maroon is the Only Color that Matters" campaign forced people to look at it from the racial aspect. That's the source of a lot of the problems, imo.

People know but refuse to acknowledge that Croom led our only winning season of that decade. His second year was way too much in the center of that travesty to think about firing coaches..

[Taog Redloh]

I was just listing one off the top of my head. Wasn't making any point. I don't think it was that important to be qualified in a traditional way, this was about something different that other hires. I'd compare it to condoleeza rice being qualified to decide on the NC playoff teams. She's not at all but it looks good to give her the position. And everybody is ok with it. It's not like she can cause too much damage anyway. i think that is how they viewed the MSU job.

I would agree with all of that, but I would have thought they wanted the first black coach to succeed. It was pretty much guaranteed that he would not succeed, if you looked at his resume.

That begs that question of whether or not LT/Slive every truly wanted football success in the first place.

[Taog Redloh]

Derek Dooley was a pretty questionable hire. He was an average coach at La Tech. Also, we were considered to be pretty damn low on the destination list for anyone who was an up and comer. Hell, even someone who you think wasn't qualified almost turned us down. The worst program in the conference that is staring probation in the face? Um....no thanks.

You can wonder why Dooley got the La Tech job, but not a big stretch for him to go from WAC to SEC. Tennessee was a little behind the 8-ball too, I think that was on into January/February when Kiffin left.

[Barking 13]

He was our first Rick Ray... I applaud both for being the scapegoat after a dumpster fire, and allowing us to be able to get to where we are now... end of story....

[Coach34]

That is the second part of what has turned into a 2-part question:

1 - How did Croom become an SEC head coaching candidate with his terrible resume?

2 - Once he did, why was he (the guy with a terrible resume) the answer to the BCA's woes?

Charley Strong and one other guy turned us down

[Taog Redloh]

He was our first Rick Ray... I applaud both for being the scapegoat after a dumpster fire, and allowing us to be able to get to where we are now... end of story....

Fair enough. Probably the most accurate of any.