Bill Curry, College Football 20y

Croom definitely his father's son

Mississippi State and athletic director Larry Templeton made history with the hiring of Sylvester Croom. Much will be made of the significance of the hiring of the first African-American head coach in the SEC and that is as it should be.

But do not be deceived. Templeton is smart and his bold stroke is more about winning than becoming an agent of social change. What he has done is hire the best qualified coach for an SEC team regardless of history, race, goodwill or any other peripheral issue.

Add to Croom's credentials the fact that he was recently passed over by Alabama -- his alma mater -- and you have another feather for the Templeton hat in the brutally competitive SEC West.

Among the finest blessings to come from my coaching experience at the University of Alabama was to become close friends with the Croom family. Rev. Sylvester Croom had been a friend to 'Bama coach Bear Bryant during the first days of the integration of Alabama football, while his son, Sylvester Jr., had been an All-America center, captain of the team and was serving as an assistant on Ray Perkins' staff when I arrived in Tuscaloosa in 1987.

I tried my best to convince the younger Sylvester to stay, but he felt that he had to move with Perkins to an NFL job in Tampa Bay. My next meeting was with his father. Rev. Croom and I sat for hours reviewing the complex origins of Bryant's decision to recruit African American players and I was stunned and impressed by his candor.

At one point Coach Bryant had bluntly asked Rev. Croom how to handle the African American players. "Just like the others. Treat them exactly like you do the white players and you will do just fine," Rev. Croom had responded.

"Coach Bryant was so clever," the Reverend told me. "Early on he was asked how he intended to 'handle those black players'. He told the writers he didn't have any 'black' players. He insisted that he just had 'players', not black ones or white ones. Then he added that the press should go ask Rev. Croom about such things."

"Here were all these cars pulling into my yard," he continued, "and I had no idea why they were there! As soon as I realized they were sports writers and who had sent them I couldn't help laughing. He wanted them to hear it from me."

I asked Rev. Croom to be our team chaplain, which he did, and I later hired his son, Dr. Kelvin Croom, to head our Total Person Program, which he handled with distinction for two years.

Rev. Croom is no longer living, but his sons are powerful witnesses to his legacy of wisdom, caring and energy. Sylvester Jr. is street-smart, country-smart, and football-smart. But ask him about his best asset and I imagine he will tell you it is having been raised by a wonderful man.

ESPN college football analyst Bill Curry coached for 17 years in the college ranks. His Game Plans for marquee matchups appear each week during the college football season.

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