Here’s the conclusion of the Sylvester Croom interview conducted on April 19.
Reflector: Why did you want to come to a program that’s under NCAA investigation and that has only won eight games in three years?
Croom: The prestige of coaching in the SEC. The opportunity, more so than the prestige. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to be a head coach and I wanted it to be in this part of the country, somewhere in this conference, particularly in the Southeast, whether in the SEC or not. I would have liked for it to be in the SEC just because of the comfort zone that I have with the recruiting down here.
I played in this conference and worked in this conference. And having grown up here in the Southeast, it’s more comfortable for me. Recruiting is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but for me it makes it a lot easier doing it in this part of the country because I’m familiar with the people. I’m familiar with the lifestyle. So I feel more comfortable here.
I think it comes across when I go to homes and communicate with the parents. I think they have a better feel for me and I think I have a better feel for them than I think it would have been in another part of the country. That’s the primary reason.
It also provided me a chance to give back to the game, in a sense. What I mean by that is it is a chance to work with young people, to teach again. I think it is a gift to teach and to communicate thoughts and the lessons that I’ve learned to other people. I do think I have a gift for that. That’s what I enjoy doing. So it gave me the opportunity to do that.
And you mentioned the program had not won and that kind of thing. Well, the reality of it is is that you don’t get this kind of opportunity, and that’s the way football is, unless you’re going into a program that’s not being successful. I mean they don’t change when the program is at the top. That just goes with the territory.
As far as the NCAA investigation, I checked on everything that I possibly could. Nobody knows the exact outcome of it, but I do know that there were no charges of lack of institutional control. And with that being the case, we have the chance, whatever the sanctions are. We will be able to weather the storm for whatever the period of time we have sanctions.
If you get a lack of institutional control, you’re dead. I felt like the opportunity was there to survive the results of the sanctions and still be able to compete. During the time I was here, all of those things combined led to my decision to come to State.
Reflector: Has it been hard to change the mindset of this team after three years of losing seasons?
Croom: Well, anytime you come to a new program, changing the mindset, changing the attitude and getting adapted to new ways is always difficult because very few of us really like change.
You’ll find that the older you get the less you like change. We get in comfort zones. We all do.
I used to be firmly the same way, but I have learned through my travels through the NFL and around the country to be more flexible and accept change more readily. It has made me eager to learn new things, far more than I would have been growing up in Tuscaloosa and playing at the University of Alabama and working there for 10 years.
I was used to doing things one way, and it was the only way. By leaving there and going to experience new ideas and new thought processes, I came to embrace change.
Meeting new people and seeing new places opened my mind up to different ways of doing things. And even with all that, it’s still hard to change. So, I understand that change is difficult with most people, but it is necessary that we change our thought process, that we change our way of doing things as a team in order for us to win right now.
Not that our way is the right way or the only way, but it will be our way.
Reflector: Would you say that you have been able to establish that with dismissals from the team?
Croom: Well I tell you more than anything else it’s not the guys who are gone that I’m concerned about. It’s making sure the guys who are here understand what a great opportunity we have-take advantage of it for themselves, for our program, and for the fun they can have being in a quality successful program. But I also want them to understand that there is an investment that has to be made and there is a sacrifice that has to be made in anything.
It does not come easy and we have to make a conscious choice if we want to pay that price.
Reflector: When State was even having bowl seasons they were still penalized heavily. They set a record in the ’99 Peach Bowl with almost 200 yards of penalties. At the end of this season when people say, ‘Mississippi State-that’s Sylvester Croom’s team,’ what do you want them to think?
Croom: One is that we played the game with class. The other thing is that, you mentioned penalties, turnovers. We do not want to be identified with that. We do not want to be identified as a team that beats itself.
We want to be identified as a tough, hard-nosed football team. We want to be a team that plays hard for the full 60 minutes. Those are the things that are very important to us. But beyond that we want to be a team that never embarrasses our fans.
Reflector: What’s the most important thing that you have learned since December.
Croom: I think I have become more aware of the great support that this university has, not just the athletic program, but the general concern that the students, alumni and fans have for the university itself.
I think we have great, great support from the Bulldog family. That and continued hard work from our players and our staff gives us the chance to create something special here.
Reflector: Finally you have gotten to be a head coach, a title you’ve worked hard to reach. Do you feel an extra burden on your shoulders since you are the first African-American head football coach in the SEC?
Croom: No, not at all. I’ve got the experience and I think I’m prepared, and whether my tenure as head coach is a success or is deemed as a failure by others, I have no reflection on any other African-Americans or minority that comes by me.
It only reflects me and I accept that. And I understand the historic significance of it, but no, I will not carry that weight. I’m just going to do the best I can to get the job done.
Croom’s Dawgs will debut Sept. 4 at home against Tulane.