Following his fourth losing season in five years, Mississippi State head football coach Sylvester Croom resigned Saturday morning.
“Five years ago, Mississippi State gave me the unprecedented opportunity to be a head football coach in the Southeastern Conference and to build a program based upon a strong foundation,” Croom said in an official press release. “I believe the foundation has been set for those goals to be reached under the leadership of someone else, and it was my decision to resign.”
According to MSU athletic director Greg Byrne, he and Croom met this morning and discussed several ideas about the future of Mississippi State football. Croom offered his resignation at the end of the meeting and it was accepted.
“I want to thank Coach Croom for his leadership and his service to Mississippi State,” Byrne said. “He has left Mississippi State football in a much better position than when he took over the program and his leadership and character certainly is unmatched and we appreciate that.”
In five seasons Croom, the SEC’s first African-American head coach, had an overall record of 21 wins and 38 losses. In SEC games, he was 10-30. Highlights of his tenure included a win over a ranked Florida team in 2004, wins over Auburn, Alabama, and Kentucky in 2007, Egg Bowls wins in 2005 and 2007, and a Liberty Bowl win in 2007.
Croom has also suffered some bad losses during his tenure, including losses to Maine in 2004, Tulane in 2006, and Louisiana Tech in 2008. On Friday the Bulldogs managed a meager 37 yards of total offense in a 45-0 rout by Ole Miss.
“We’ll start a national search immediately for a new football coach at Mississippi State. We don’t have any time frames, we just want to find the right person whoever that is and however long that takes, obviously being concerned about recruiting and being concerned about the stability of our program,” Byrne said.
Speculation has already begun on who the next coach may be.
“We’re looking for somebody with high energy, a passion for recruiting, strong work ethic. It’d be nice if they had an understanding of the SEC, although experience in the SEC isn’t a prerequisite,” Byrne said. “We want somebody that has the intensity and the energy level to continue what Coach Croom has built on and take it to a higher level for us.”
According to Byrne, the buyout specified in Croom’s contract will be paid. He did
not discuss any specifics of the buyout.
Assistant coach Rocky Felker will serve as interim coach overseeing day-to-day activities until a new head coach is hired.