Sylvester Croom

Sylvester Croom is best known for his time spent as the head coach at Mississippi State University from 2004 to 2008, Sylvester Croom, Jr. went down in history as the first African American head football coach in the Southeastern Conference. His father, Sylvester Croom, Sr., was a former football player at Alabama A&M. Following in his footsteps, Croom, Jr. attended the University of Alabama, captained the team his senior year, earned the College All-American title in 1974, and debuted in 1975 for one professional NFL season with the New Orleans Saints. Leaving the Saints to pursue his coaching career, Croom returned to the University of Alabama as an assistant coach for eleven seasons, proving to be just as valuable, if not more, on the sidelines as on the field. He then transitioned back into the NFL, spending seventeen years coaching with the NFL, serving as a running back coach and offensive coordinator for several professional teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts. In 2004, Croom went back to become the head coach of Mississippi State, but ultimately returned to the NFL once again, serving as the running back coach for the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, and currently the Tennessee Titans. Throughout his coaching career, Croom has earned the SEC Coach of the Year title and the honorable Liberty Mutual Fan Coach of the Year in 2007. He will always hold an important role in history as breaking a barrier that should have been broken long before, and is known for his famous quote when accepting the job for Mississippi State, “there ain’t but one color that matters here, and that color is maroon.”