Sylvester Croom

Year	School	Record	Bowl
2004	Mississippi State	3-8
2005	Mississippi State	3-8
2006	Mississippi State	3-9
2007	Mississippi State	8-5
Career		17-30	.362
	Mississippi State	17-30	.362

2008 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Location	2008 CHS Prediction
8/30/08	at Louisiana Tech	Ruston, LA	W
9/06/08	SE Louisiana	Starkville, MS	W
9/13/08	Auburn	Starkville, MS	L
9/20/08	at Georgia Tech	Atlanta, GA	L
9/27/08	at LSU	Baton Rouge, LA	L
10/11/08	Vanderbilt	Starkville, MS	W
10/18/08	at Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	L
10/25/08	Middle Tennessee St	Starkville, MS	W
11/01/08	Kentucky	Starkville, MS	W
11/15/08	at Alabama	Tuscaloosa, AL	L
11/22/08	Arkansas	Starkville, MS	L
11/28/08	at Ole Miss	Oxford, MS	L

	Coaches Hot Seat Prediction		5-7

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

One can only wonder what the Alabama football program would look like right now if instead of Mike Shula being hired in the wake of the Mike Price firing, that former player and captain at Alabama for Paul "Bear" Bryant, Sylvester Croom had been hired instead. One of the most stunning things to look at in major college football today, is the lack of depth, and even starting quality players on the current Alabama roster, and those problems can be laid right at the feet of Mike Shula. Whatever Shula was doing at Alabama, he was certainly not recruiting at the level of the other top coaches in the SEC, and it should be obvious to Alabama fans everywhere that the hiring of Shula over Croom was just another disastrous decision by the powers-to-be in Tuscaloosa. It is impossible to know if Sly Croom would have returned Alabama to the top of the SEC and college football, but with 2 wins over Alabama in the last two seasons at Mississippi State, Croom has made the people doing the hiring in Tuscaloosa look like fools.

One thing we have noticed among ourselves and others in the past 4 years, is that it is very easy to underestimate Sylvester Croom, but once you get to meet Coach Croom and watch his team play in person, your view of him as a man, a coach, and his team is changed forever. Mississippi State acts and plays like one of the most disciplined teams in the country and the distance that Croom's team has traveled in the past 24 months is remarkable. The biggest problem for Coach Croom and Mississippi State going forward is the unbelievable toughness of the SEC West, which may be from top to bottom the toughest collection of six college football teams in the country. Every team in the SEC West now has a proven head coach and the rubber band of who will get the wins and who will get the losses can only stretch so far. If we were forced to bet today on which team out of the SEC West would have the most division crowns over the next ten years, it would be impossible to pick one team over another, and for the first time in years, we are not counting out Ole Miss and Mississippi State from potential trips to Atlanta. Sly Croom had laid a great foundation at Mississippi State and he and his staff will have to work very hard to hold onto what they got, and to move onto other goals. If there is one thing we have learned from Mississippi State's '07 season, if Sly Croom lays out a goal for his team, then we had damn better not discount his team's chances of reaching that goal. The first order of business though is to follow up an impressive '07 with an even better '08.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Sylvester Croom and Mississippi State will have a 5-7 record in 2008. Mississippi State starts out the '08 season with a very tough trip to Ruston, Louisiana to play Derek Dooley's La. Tech football team. La. Tech almost beat Boise State in Ruston in '07, and this will be a very tough opening game for the Bulldogs. In a very close game, we see Miss. State sneaking out with a win, which takes their record to 1-0. SE Louisiana visits Starkville in week 2, and this should be an easy win for the Bulldogs. After two games, Miss. State is 2-0. The SEC schedule gets underway in week 3 when Auburn travels to Starkville with their new Tony Franklin inspired spread offense. In what should be a very close SEC game, we see Auburn getting a close win on the road, which drops the Miss. State record to 2-1. In a very big game for the Bulldogs, they travel to Atlanta in week 4 to play Paul Johnson's first team at Georgia Tech. This should be an old-fashioned battle of the trenches with Ga. Tech trying to grind out their option attack and Miss. State trying to score with their west coast offense. In a close game between ACC and SEC foes, we give the slight nod to Georgia Tech at home, and they get the win over Miss. State. After four games, Miss. State is 2-2. Week 5 is a very tough trip to Baton Rouge to play the defending national champions in LSU, and in what should be an entertaining game for 3 quarters, the Tigers will get the win in the end. After five games, Miss. State is 2-3. Vanderbilt arrives in Starkville in week 6 and this will be a must win game for the Bulldogs to keep their bowl chances alive for the '08 season. In another closely fought SEC game, we give the edge to Miss. State, which runs the Bulldogs' record to 3-3. Week 7 is another tough road trip, this time to Knoxville to play Fulmer's Vols. Neyland Stadium is always a very tough place for visitors, and the home field advantage will be a big advantage in this game as Tennessee gets the win. After seven games, Miss. State is 3-4. Middle Tennessee State arrives in Starkville in week 8 and although this game will be closer than one would expect, Miss. State will get the win in the end. After eight games, Miss. State is 4-4. Kentucky is up next for Miss. State, as the Wildcats arrive in Starkville for this week 9 matchup. Kentucky will probably be down in '08 from their '07 performance, and the Bulldogs should be able to handle Kentucky at home. After nine games, Miss. State is 5-4. Sly Croom has a two game winning streak against his alma mater Alabama, and that is who Miss. State travels to play in week 10. Surely, Alabama will be improved by this time of the season, and the Alabama crowd will certainly want to end their losing streak to one of Bear's boys. In a closer game than expected, Alabama beats Miss. State, which drops the Bulldogs' record to 5-5. Week 11 is a fascinating game as Bobby Petrino brings his Arkansas team to Starkville, and we are imagining by the 11th game of the season that Petrino will have the Hogs playing some pretty good football. In a great SEC game, we see Arkansas getting the win, which drops the Miss. State record to 5-6. The last game of the year is of course the Egg Bowl game between Miss. State and Ole Miss, with this game kicking off in Oxford. This game has been very even in recent years and we believe that with Houston Nutt on the Ole Miss sideline and the home field advantage, that the Rebels will get a huge win over Miss. State to end the '08 regular season. With a loss to Ole Miss, the Bulldogs' record drops to 5-7.

A 5-7 record by Mississippi State in '08 will be quite a comedown from the 8-5 performance of '07, but the Bulldogs are playing one of the toughest schedules in the SEC in '08, with road trips to La. Tech and Georgia Tech out-of-conference, and LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, and Ole Miss in-conference. Of course, even a one game turnaround from our prediction would produce a .500 record, which would more than likely lead to a bowl game, which would be another huge accomplishment by Coach Croom, his staff, and the Mississippi State football program. Whatever happens, it is great fun to watch the passion that the Mississippi State football players bring to the game of football, and that passion is a direct reflection of their head football coach, Sylvester Croom.

Would we want our sons to play football for Sly Croom? You bet your ass we would.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction: 5-7

Will Sylvester Croom be back for the 2009 season? YES