In an effort to improve the team for the future, head football coach Sylvester Croom and the Mississippi State Bulldogs football program are looking to the past.
Coach Croom announced the hiring of Melvin Smith to his football staff Sunday.
Smith, a native of Taylorsville served as an assistant coach for State from 1995-2001 and helped lead the program through what could arguably be called its “Golden Age.”
“I am excited that I can add someone with the character and experience of Melvin Smith to our coaching staff,” Croom said in a statement. “He shares the vision that this staff has in building this program to a championship level.”
Smith returns to the Bulldogs after a successful three-year tenure as the safeties coach at Texas A&M, where he helped the Aggies earn a berth in the 2005 Cotton Bowl. In 2002, he served the same role at Alabama, and the program finished with a 10-3 record.
Smith called his homecoming “a blessing.”
Smith will be in charge of the entire MSU defensive backfield when spring drills begin in March. He coached the Bulldog defensive backs for the final six seasons of his first stretch at MSU. Smith replaced running backs coach Freddie Kitchens, who accepted an assistant coaching job with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, on the staff.
Assistant coach Shane Beamer will shift responsibilities from coaching the cornerbacks to tutoring the running backs this season, as well as maintaining his role as the staff recruiting coordinator.
“I’m excited about it,” Beamer said. “It’s the best thing for the university from a recruiting and coaching standpoint to get Mel in here. I’ve been on the defensive side, and moving to the offensive side will only help me as a coach.”
Beamer previously worked as an offensive coach as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech in 2000.
Beamer, the son of successful Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, feels that Smith will help MSU recruiting both in- and out-of-state.
“He’s got Mississippi ties, and that’s important in recruiting,” Beamer said. “We like to recruit Mississippi first and foremost. Melvin’s well-respected and well-thought-of by coaches and players alike, and he’s a great guy, too.”
In his first term in Starkville, Smith coached the likes of current NFL cornerback Fred Smoot and long-time Buffalo Bills receiver Eric Moulds.
With Smith on the staff, the Bulldogs recorded a 33-15 record from 1997-2000 and went 20-12 in the Southeastern Conference.
The 1998 team won the SEC Western Division championship and played eventual national champion Tennessee in the SEC title game, ending the year with a berth in the Cotton Bowl.