Croom owned Bama. Why didn't he succeed more at MSU?

For once in his career, Ellis Johnson was the reason for a team's success.

I guess you could say 2-3 is owning Alabama. That is far better than most manage....

Mississippi State finished 8-5 in 2007 on the backs of a defense that finished the season ranked 21st in total defense. Meanwhile, the offense was a complete mess ranking #113 in total offense. Ellis Johnson was pissed off about the defense having to carry the entire load for the team to be successful. So he wanted Croom to fire the OC Woody McCorvey. So what does Croom decide to do? Not only does Croom decide to keep McCorvey, he persuades the Mississippi State AD to give him a raise. Johnson is fed up and leaves Mississippi State for South Carolina. And guess what happens? The offense is still horrible while the defense takes a step back due to being on the field all the time and Croom gets canned. With decisions like that, no wonder Croom has never advanced past a NFL RB coaches job after leaving Mississippi State.

Yeah, he admitted that he would have to be fired before he would get rid of any of his assistant coaches. Everyone was like, OK, if you say so Sylvester, with your crazy sideways baseball cap.

Everyone with half a brain realized Woody McCorvey was a terrible OC. The problem with Croom was that he was too loyal to his coaches. I can remember well people saying McCorvey would eventually cost Croom his job and it did. Croom can blame anything or anyone he wants but the fact is Woody was a total disaster and Croom refused to see it. Worse offense we ever had.

I think his loyalty was tied to his experience with CPB and the disloyalty he (Croom) felt from Bama. Croom was of a dying breed that failed to recognize the change in college football

C'mon now.

Would Croom "own" Bama if Saban was there at the same time?

Totally different animal.

After the 3-2 Auburn game, he said something to the effect of "our defense just didn't make enough plays."

quote:

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Seems like he was building a solid program. Why didn't he survive the first rough patch?

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Are you high?

As bad as State has been in their history of football, the Croom era was the worst. Maybe a mid 60's run in Diamondawgs' days is up there. <---to DD.
think about that for a moment.

Croom looked forward to the Bama game only And let it be known. Those State teams fed off that. You could tell how they played against Bama. We're just lucky those two games came at the end of Shula and early Saban.

I could go on and on about his coaching, his recruiting, he field decisions, his preparations, and on and on. For someone with an NFL offensive background, it was downright dreadful. Square peg round hole game after game. Ellis Johnson saved his arse. He was so out of his element with recruiting.