Mississippi State Hires Croom, Makes History

Sylvester Croom became the first black head football coach in Southeastern Conference history, accepting an offer Monday to take over troubled Mississippi State.

“We went after the best football coach, and we’re confident we found that individual in Sylvester Croom,” Athletic Director Larry Templeton said.

Croom informed Templeton he would take the job less than 24 hours after Templeton said he had offered it. A news conference will be held today in Starkville, Miss., to introduce him.

Croom, 49, has never been a head coach, but has been an NFL assistant with five teams since 1987 and worked for Bear Bryant and Ray Perkins at Alabama from 1977 to ’86.

The SEC’s hiring history came under increased scrutiny this year when Croom was passed over for the top job at his alma mater, Alabama, in favor of Mike Shula, another alumnus, who is white.

Every other bowl championship series conference has had at least one black head coach, but a lack of diversity among major college football head coaches is not exclusive to the SEC.

There were four black head coaches among 117 Division I-A football schools this season: Karl Dorrell of UCLA, Fitz Hill of San Jose State, Tony Samuel of New Mexico State and Tyrone Willingham of Notre Dame.

Alabama was criticized by some, including civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, for not hiring Croom, who had more experience than Shula.

“The issue of opportunities for minority coaches to become head football coaches is an issue for everybody, all the conferences in the country,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. “The fact that the SEC has now provided that opportunity makes it an historic day for the conference and for Mississippi State.”

Jackson said Croom’s hiring is a positive step for the SEC, but the league still is lagging in minority hirings at high-profile positions such as athletic director and university president.

“So while this is a breakthrough, we’re really way behind our potential,” Jackson said. “But I think Mississippi State, its president and its athletic director deserve congratulations and I extend that to them.”

Messages left at Croom’s home and office were not immediately returned.

Templeton said he hoped Croom, who has coached running backs at Green Bay since 2001, would be cleared by the Packers to assume his new position immediately. He replaces retiring coach Jackie Sherrill, whose teams went 8-27 the last three seasons, 2-10 this season.

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Texas Christian’s announcement Monday that it would not participate in the Dec. 18 GMAC bowl because of conflicts with exams marks one of the most precipitous falls in recent bowl memory.

On Nov. 20, TCU was 10-0, No. 8 in the bowl championships series standings and needing only a win at Southern Mississippi to likely become the first non-BCS school to earn a BCS bowl berth.

But Southern Mississippi won, 40-28, costing TCU a possible shot at either the Orange or Fiesta bowls. Then, on Nov. 29, Southern Mississippi beat East Carolina to clinch the Conference USA title and an automatic bid in the Liberty Bowl.

TCU, which improved to 11-1 after last weekend’s win over Southern Methodist, was slotted to fall to the GMAC. After scrambling to find a bowl date that doesn’t conflict with final exams, it accepted a bid to the Fort Worth Bowl. Meanwhile, Louisville accepted the GMAC bid.

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Several postseason games issued invitations Monday.

Washington State accepted a bid to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and will face a Big 12 opponent. Oregon State will play New Mexico in the Las Vegas Bowl. California will oppose Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl at Tempe, Ariz. Utah accepted the Liberty Bowl berth opposite Southern Mississippi. Georgia Tech will go the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, probably facing Boise State or Tulsa. Memphis and North Texas will play in the New Orleans Bowl.

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Tommy Tuberville said he has decided to stay as Auburn’s coach despite an attempt by the university president and athletic director to line up a replacement last month. The Tigers are 7-5.... Cincinnati fired coach Rick Minter and offered him another position within the athletic department. The Bearcats were 5-7 this season, 53-63-1 in Minter’s 10 seasons.... Texas El Paso coach Gary Nord was fired after going 14-34 in four years, 2-12 this season.... Northwestern assistant Jeff Genyk was hired as head coach at Eastern Michigan.... Florida backup quarterback Ingle Martin asked to be released from his scholarship so he can transfer to another school.