Croom making Mississippi State relevant again
editor1 |Aug 24,2008
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By Zachary Ingraham
PA SportsTicker Staff Writer
Sylvester Croom has Mississippi State moving in the right
direction.
After winning just three games in each of his first three years
at the helm, Croom coached the Bulldogs to an 8-5 finish last
season despite playing a grueling Southeastern Conference
schedule.
Mississippi State, which served as the doormat for many SEC foes
for much of this decade, recorded road victories over Auburn and
14th-ranked Kentucky and knocked off No. 22 Alabama at home.
"One of the things I was very pleased with us last year is that
we finished games," Croom said. "We finished the season
extremely well, and we have to continue to do that."
That doesn't mean the Bulldogs' head coach was completely
satisfied.
"Hopefully this year we can start off a lot stronger and a lot
faster than we've done as far as the season goes and also at the
beginning of games," Croom said. "If we do have the intangible
qualities as our team had last year, with the talent we have,
then we have a chance at some point to be a good football team
during the course of this season."
Croom's squad, which ended last season with a 10-3 triumph over
UCF in the Liberty Bowl, also has high expectations for this
campaign.
"I feel we can compete for an SEC Championship," sophomore
quarterback Wesley Carroll said. "I definitely believe we can
play with teams like Auburn and Alabama. Last year, we played
well against Tennessee and South Carolina but felt like we let
those games get away from us late. We believe we can be better
and win those games this year."
"We just want to finish better," linebacker Jamar Chaney said.
"We won eight games and went to the Liberty Bowl, but we want to
go out and prove we are even better this year."
The first African-American coach in the history of SEC football,
Croom took over a battered and beaten squad in 2004 - and the
road to success has not been easy.
"Our conference is the toughest conference in the country,"
Croom said. "We've got more national championships, we got more
players in the pros. So our talent level in this conference is
the best in the country.
"The quality of our coaches is the best in the country. If
you're going to compete in this conference, you've got to
prepare well and you've got to play well every week."
While success was not immediate for the 2007 SEC Coach of the
Year, Croom earned the respect of his players.
The result - the Bulldogs began to contend with other conference
rivals after winning just five total games over the previous two
years before Croom's arrival.
"It's really great. (Croom) cares about us as a man and a
person both on and off the field," Chaney said. "We take it as
a great opportunity to play for the first black head coach in
the SEC. What he's doing now is opening doors for a lot of
people."
"That's what is great about coach Croom, he doesn't sugar coat
things," Carroll said. "He'll tell you when you need to be
working harder and in which areas you need to improve."
In the minds of Croom's team, the surprising success of the 2007
campaign has already been forgotten and the focus has turned to
the season opener against Louisiana Tech.
"We had a good spring and if we have good two-a-days we can look
forward to a good opener against Louisiana Tech," Carroll said.
"Hopefully, we'll get off to a good start and keep it rolling,
but we have to focus on each game without looking ahead.
"We're not going to sneak up on anyone this year."
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