Mississippi State's Croom quits day after Egg Bowl beating

Calls for Croom to make changes to his coaching staff and run-first offensive philosophy dogged the Bulldogs. The team continued to have trouble at quarterback and Croom switched starters midway through the season.

The Bulldogs were 11th in the SEC in scoring offense (16.6 points per game) and 10th in total offense (297.7 yards per game) through 11 games and lost badly at Georgia Tech (38-7) and Tennessee (34-3). Yet some optimism remained that Mississippi State could salvage a bit of pride and its promising recruiting class after a 31-28 win over Arkansas last week and with a good game against the revitalized Rebels.

Croom even got a vote of confidence from incoming Mississippi State president Mark Keenum.

But Mississippi State was outmatched from the start and looked poorly prepared against Ole Miss. The quarterbacks were hit hard on nine of their first 10 pass attempts as the Rebels put together a school-record 11 sacks and set another mark by holding the Bulldogs to minus-51 yards rushing.

Croom seemed stunned after the game.

"They came in here with the idea they were going to beat us bad, and they did from start to finish," Croom said. "I don't know why what happened today occurred. I'm sorry to say that it's an absolute mystery to me."

Byrne, a new hire who has been on the job less than a year, wouldn't comment on the speculation surrounding the football team during the season but said Saturday that a possible resignation was discussed in the morning meeting.

"We discussed the football program and many topics were addressed, including resignation," Byrne said in a statement. "I want to thank Coach Croom for the leadership he has provided our football program over the last five years."

While Croom wasn't able to squeeze many wins out of his tenure, there's little question he improved a Mississippi State program that was at its lowest ebb. The Bulldogs were hit with major sanctions following rules violations under previous coach Jackie Sherrill and had won just three games a season between 2001-03.

Hired Dec. 1, 2003, the Bear Bryant disciple who had been an all-American center at Alabama and an NFL assistant for 17 seasons inherited a team low on talent. Heavy sanctions and the SEC's lowest budget made the challenge even steeper.

"We couldn't even get recruits to visit campus," Croom said this week while talking about his early recruiting efforts.

But Croom upgraded the talent enough that the Bulldogs were competitive in the nation's toughest conference and they earned their first winning season since 2000 last year, capping it with a 10-3 win over Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl.

He also was having success off the field, drawing commitments from several top recruits, including a quarterback.

A spokesman said players would not be available Saturday, but some defended Croom following Friday's loss.

"I think it is unfair," wide receiver Delmon Robinson said of the criticism. "When it's man-to-man coverage, it's the receiver against the (defensive back). If the receiver doesn't win, it's not the coach's fault that he didn't win. It's all about the players. We've got to win and we've got to go out there and execute coach's plays."

It was the second straight season an embarrassing loss in the Egg Bowl led to a coaching change. Coach Ed Orgeron was fired a day after the Rebels collapsed in a 17-14 loss. Ole Miss led 14-0 going into the fourth quarter, but Orgeron went for it on fourth down at midfield. The Bulldogs stopped the play, went on to score and finished with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Byrne said Croom's assistants remain under contract and will work until a new coach is hired. A search will begin immediately.

"Looking forward I plan to work closely with athletic director Greg Byrne to move quickly, but with due deliberation, to find a new head football coach with high energy and a commitment to compete for championships and bowl opportunities in the best conference in America," Keenum said.

There likely will be several candidates for a coveted SEC job, but Mississippi State's new coach shouldn't get comfortable. There have been coaching changes at five of six SEC West schools in the past five years, with only Tommy Tuberville at Auburn lasting through that time. And even he's facing criticism in a losing season.

The Rebels' new coach, Houston Nutt, had been at Arkansas for 10 years before resigning after last season and moving to Ole Miss. But he believes tenures like that could be a thing of the past because fans and boosters have little patience for losing.

"It's sad, but it doesn't surprise me," Nutt said. "It's the way of the world in college football right now."