Croom a Class Act

[boddatiger99 5]

It may have been mentioned already, but Croom is a Class Act. I'm really glad he closed out the season with a win over Ole Miss....a miraculous win, nonetheless. (Hate they beat us, of course.) I watched some of the replay of this weekend's game. When they attempted to interview him at the end of the game, he was speechless, choking back tears. All he could muster was, "I love these guys..." and mentioned something about their character. To me, he's all about developing men of class and character. Don't know if he will ever be a great coach, but he did something very special this year. And he seems to always go about things the right way, no matter what.

[LegalEagle 22]

He is a great guy and a darn good coach. I thought his hiring was a much for political correctness as ability, but I am no longer a doubter. We have beaten the Turds 6 years in a row, but hell, MSU is 2 in a row and counting! They beat us too.

The most impressive thing to me about Sly Croom is his character - he does it the right way without cutting corners. His success may have been delayed a bit because of that, but the future sure looks bright now.

He's a great man.

[AUChizad 0]

The most impressive thing to me about Sly Croom is his character - he does it the right way without cutting corners. His success may have been delayed a bit because of that, but the future sure looks bright now.

I think for this reason alone uat screwed up BAD by not hiring him when they had the chance.

If he had walked into any SEC school BESIDES the worst one (and at the time uat was somewhat considered top tier) he would be nasty to deal with now.

Glad we've only had to deal with Dumb & Dumber.

[AUdaREALsecTigers 2]

The most impressive thing to me about Sly Croom is his character - he does it the right way without cutting corners. His success may have been delayed a bit because of that, but the future sure looks bright now.

I think for this reason alone uat screwed up BAD by not hiring him when they had the chance.

If he had walked into any SEC school BESIDES the worst team one (and at the time uat was somewhat considered top tier) he would be nasty to deal with now.

Glad we've only had to deal with Dumb & Dumber.

My thoughts also. Although it has been kinda fun watching UAT turn their much hyped, formerly much respected coach into a clown. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy (sarcasm). Croom is much better off.

[townhallsavoy 2]

I used to say these same things about Richt and Georgia. NO MORE. NO MORE.

I am glad for Croom. He's turned the corner with Miss St. Let's hope he decides to take another job because I can't handle any more teams being good in the SEC.

[WarDlowe 39]

the thing about UAT is that if he had gotten hired there, he'd already be gone. you saw that it took him a while to rebuild MSU and it's still kind of slow going, and UAT wouldn't have been patient with that. good for him for not ending up in that hell hole.

[WarTim 3,456]

Coach Croom has done it "the right way". Sad to say....Certain "other" "programs" wouldn't allow it to be done THE RIGHT WAY.

I am happy to see a GREAT person enjoy success. I just hope he does not have much more of that success against AU.

[mcgufcm 4,104]

i have a feeling the dogs are going to be tough deal with in their own right while sly is there. they still have some depth problems, but they are catching up. they still have to find a qb, but they might've done that in freshman wesley carroll. they now have to deal with success, but they have a great leader to follow in croom. i, for one, am not looking forward to dealing with a mentally tough, disciplined, defense-first msu in the years to come.

[WarEagle007 1]

From what I personally have seen of Croom, I also think he's a class act and really loves his players and his job. His post-game interview this weekend showed he cares a lot of MSU and what he is building there.

However, my Dad works with a guy who played for Bama under Croom when he was an assistant there and he says he's a jerk. So I don't know who to believe. But people can change as well. I'd probably be a jerk if I had to coach at UAT too, it would be miserable.

[mcgufcm 4,104]

if he played under croom, he might think he was too much of a hard@$$. this is the man who, in his first year at state, had a player take his helmet off and lean on it while puking. croom walked by kicked the helmet out from under him and caused him to fall into the area he just vomited on. croom's only statement to the guy? "from now on, you puke through the helmet. you don't take off my helmet."

that's a second hand story from a friend of mine that was an SID at state croom's first year. i live in starkville. that story got really big, really quick. he's a hard, old-school cat, but he's a good guy and cares about his boys.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

if he played under croom, he might think he was too much of a hard@$$. this is the man who, in his first year at state, had a player take his helmet off and lean on it while puking. croom walked by kicked the helmet out from under him and caused him to fall into the area he just vomited on. croom's only statement to the guy? "from now on, you puke through the helmet. you don't take off my helmet."

that's a second hand story from a friend of mine that was an SID at state croom's first year. i live in starkville. that story got really big, really quick. he's a hard, old-school cat, but he's a good guy and cares about his boys.

Unless they are puking...

If a guy kicked my helmet and made me fall in my own puke, I wouldn't have any warm fuzzies toward him. I like tough, but that's borderline sadistic.

[AU-Dave 7]

In highschool our coach had the same mentality.

you did NOT take your helmet off unless it got knocked off..... or if he told you it was ok

[TexasTiger 12,949]

In highschool our coach had the same mentality.

you did NOT take your helmet off unless it got knocked off..... or if he told you it was ok

High school coaches do a lot of stupid things.

[AU-Dave 7]

In highschool our coach had the same mentality.

you did NOT take your helmet off unless it got knocked off..... or if he told you it was ok

High school coaches do a lot of stupid things.

very true

[mcgufcm 4,104]

he cared enough to teach those guys to act like men. he was the first person to demand that of them in a long time. they learned discipline. they went to class. they got degrees, and now they are winning ballgames. if you gotta trip a man into puke to get that, so be it i suppose.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

he cared enough to teach those guys to act like men. he was the first person to demand that of them in a long time. they learned discipline. they went to class. they got degrees, and now they are winning ballgames. if you gotta trip a man into puke to get that, so be it i suppose.

Big assumption that type of thing pushed them over the top. You can treat people with respect and still demand accountability.

[GalensGhost 0]

Big assumption that type of thing pushed them over the top. You can treat people with respect and still demand accountability.

That sounds kind of pussified to me. Sounds like something Al Gore or John Kerry would say.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

Big assumption that type of thing pushed them over the top. You can treat people with respect and still demand accountability.

That sounds kind of pussified to me. Sounds like something Al Gore or John Kerry would say.

Well, you've always struck me as the kind of guy that is so insecure in his masculinity that he has to always talk and act tough. Real men don't find that necessary.

[GalensGhost 0]

Big assumption that type of thing pushed them over the top. You can treat people with respect and still demand accountability.

That sounds kind of pussified to me. Sounds like something Al Gore or John Kerry would say.

Well, you've always struck me as the kind of guy that is so insecure in his masculinity that he has to always talk and act tough. Real men don't find that necessary.

Yet another Al Franken gem. You don't talk it and act it, Tiger, you DO it. Big difference. It's called character. It's called grit. It's called tenacity. It's something leaders possess. Leaders are not pusses. They understand that sometimes hard choices and sacrifices have to be made. You can't hug your way to the top unless you're a really hot woman and you're hugging nakedly.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

Big assumption that type of thing pushed them over the top. You can treat people with respect and still demand accountability.

That sounds kind of pussified to me. Sounds like something Al Gore or John Kerry would say.

Well, you've always struck me as the kind of guy that is so insecure in his masculinity that he has to always talk and act tough. Real men don't find that necessary.

Yet another Al Franken gem. You don't talk it and act it, Tiger, you DO it. Big difference. It's called character. It's called grit. It's called tenacity. It's something leaders possess. Leaders are not pusses. They understand that sometimes hard choices and sacrifices have to be made. You can't hug your way to the top unless you're a really hot woman and you're hugging nakedly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just don't see you commanding that much respect. You just strike me as a blowhard.

[GalensGhost 0]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just don't see you commanding that much respect. You just strike me as a blowhard.

We were talking about Sylvester Croom. I know you can't get your mind off me, but I wish to hell you'd try.

I get respect from the people from whom I need it. That's all that matters to me.

[TexasTiger 12,949]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just don't see you commanding that much respect. You just strike me as a blowhard.

We were talking about Sylvester Croom. I know you can't get your mind off me, but I wish to hell you'd try.

I get respect from the people from whom I need it. That's all that matters to me.

You told me what I sounded like to you, and I returned the favor. If you're done, I'm done.

[mcgufcm 4,104]

I'm not saying that is the act or the kind of act that made them better. I do think you can treat guys with respect and still demand accountability. BUT you don't know what he walked into in Starkville. I'm from there. I'm telling you: Croom had to make a statement. He had to be over the top or the message was going to be ignored.

He made the guys go to church together. He made them tuck their shirts in every time they came to the athletic complex. He suspended guys for just getting mentioned in bad situations. He worked them so hard, guys just flat quit. He demanded the helmet stay on at all times. Does all that stuff still happen? I honestly don't think so. It's loosened a little. Why? Because some of that was unnecessary in order to be successful, but it was all necessary to set the tone that football and life were going to be conducted differently than before.

Croom did the right thing because he strayed on the side of being too tough. If he hadn't the loose canons on that team would've continued to undermine the authority.

[GalensGhost 0]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just don't see you commanding that much respect. You just strike me as a blowhard.

We were talking about Sylvester Croom. I know you can't get your mind off me, but I wish to hell you'd try.

I get respect from the people from whom I need it. That's all that matters to me.

You told me what I sounded like to you, and I returned the favor. If you're done, I'm done.

No, Tex, that's not what you did at all.

I said the statement you made sounded pussified. The statement itself sounded like Gore or Kerry. Not you. There's a big difference between saying that what you said sounds gay and saying you ARE gay. But I don't expect you to understand that. You've got the Clinton/Gore/Kerry/Edwards/Democrat pattern down to an art. It's really quite pathetic.

So yeah, I'm done. I don't think you have anything of value to say on this or any other topic.

[CCTAU 3,327]

People don't like to equate football with the military anymore, but a lot of it goes hand in hand. Tough discipline and respect out of fear or whatever works is the thing that keeps the team together. Holding hands singing kum-ba-yah will not cut it. Certainly it was understood that you kept your helmet on. Someone decided ther was an exception to this. Croom reinforced the rule. Had the guy not been leaning on his helmet, he would not have fallen in the puke.

When we had winter workout at AU in the bubble (6AM in the cold), if you had to puke, you ran to rock trough on the side and quickly puked. Then you got back into your place in line and did not miss your rotation. If you did miss, you were written down and had to complete it after practice. Should they have shown a little sympathy for me because I was puking? It was understood before hand that you did not miss your rotation for any reason. Should I have asked for an exception? Would one have been given? Did their lack of compassion demean me? Or did it raise expectations? On the football field, rules are rules. SO Croom's rules were a little tougher than most. I don't think any of those guys are in therapy over it now.