Croom was set to hire Borges

[Kaos]

But he resigned instead.  At least they didn't harass his mother and allowed the guy to make his own conflicting statements:

http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=283130&pub=1&div=Sports

Sylvester Croom was in the process of changing offensive coordinators when he resigned as Mississippi State's head coach.

That's what he told an Atlanta radio station on Monday during an interview. Croom said that Woody McCorvey, who'd led the Bulldogs' offense since Croom's debut in 2004, had already signed a contract to move into an administrative position.

Who was going to fill McCorvey's old role? Al Borges, who most recently was Auburn's offensive coordinator from 2004-07.

MSU finished the season ranked 113th in the country in total offense. During Croom and McCorvey's tenure, that ranking has never been higher than 103rd.

"We started talking about this after the Kentucky game, and my only concern was making sure that - because a lot of things had happened to us this season, I didn't think they were Woody's fault - so when we were going to make the change, I felt like I had to make a change in the offense in order to move forward," Croom said on WQXI-AM, a highly rated Atlanta sports talk radio station known as 790 "The Zone."

"To be honest with you, I'd already contacted Al Borges about being our offensive coordinator. I thought that, supposedly, the week after that, he was going to let me know for sure. But exactly what the reason was, I was never told."

Croom did not elaborate on that last sentence. His answer was in response to a question about whether his not being open to certain changes led to his departure.

In a statement released the day he resigned, Nov. 29, Croom said "it was my decision to resign."

This was at least Croom's second interview since stepping down. He had told the Daily Journal on Thursday that he would not be giving interviews until after New Year's Day. A call to his cell phone Monday night was not returned.

He also spoke with satellite television channel CBS College Sports on Saturday. In that interview, Croom said that "other thoughts and ideas" did not coincide with his own approach and led to his resignation.

He had met with first-year Athletics Director Greg Byrne, who replaced the retiring Larry Templeton, on the morning of Nov. 29 to discuss the program's future. At the conclusion of the meeting, Croom offered to step down.

In the CBS interview, Croom said, "It was my hopes that we'd have an opportunity to continue to move forward, but the powers-that-be decided otherwise, and it was agreed that it was best for me to move on."

Media, Internet influence
In the radio interview, Croom was asked about coaches like himself and Auburn's Tommy Tuberville being on the hot seat despite recent success. Croom was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2007 after leading MSU to an 8-5 record and a Liberty Bowl victory.

"Coaches are being paid a lot of money, and athletic directors are listening a lot to the media, particularly the Internet crowd," Croom said. "There's just more pressure building. Winning games is the bottom line.

"What happens, the reasons for not winning, the things that can happen to a team during the course of a season, the things that can happen in a program - a lot of those things are going under the radar, are not as important as they used to be."

Croom arrived in Starkville in December of 2003 with the cloud of probation hanging over the team. That, he said, greatly affected recruiting.

But he added that Templeton and Dr. Charles Lee, then the school president, agreed to give him ample time after sanctions expired in 2006 to build up the program. The probation was lifted this past summer.

Signs of progress
Croom pointed to the last two recruiting classes and the potential of the 2009 class as a sign of progress.

"Basically, I took the approach when we came here -I explained this to the people who hired me - that in order to turn this program around, I felt like we had to start all over again from scratch and basically rebuild an SEC football team," he told CBSCS. "They agreed with me, they agreed to give me the time to do it, but since then things have changed - other thoughts and ideas, and they want to move in a different direction, and it's agreed that it's time for me to move on."

As for what's next for Croom, he said he still wants to coach. He's just not sure when or where that will be.

"I would like to coach in college again, because there's a great deal of satisfaction of coaching young people," he said. "Every day, you know you're going to work, you know that what you're doing matters."

[Jumbo]

So message boards Hire and Fire coaches? Nice

[Thrilla]

Still a class act.  I hope he finds success in his next job.