The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Sylvester Croom

Followed Jackie Sherrill. Sylvester Croom slid Mississippi State from National Program III to Regional Program I in 5 seasons.

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2004–2008 · 1 stint
Mississippi State
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerMISSISSIPPI STATENational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelMississippi State, 2004: 3-8, Regional Program I2004Mississippi State, 2005: 3-8, Regional Program I2005Mississippi State, 2006: 3-9, Regional Program II2006Mississippi State, 2007: 8-5, Regional Program II2007Mississippi State, 2008: 4-8, Regional Program II2008-6.4One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Mississippi State, 5 seasons
−6.4
Regional Program I → Regional Program II.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

2–3 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Houston Nutt.

Rivalry record
2–3
40.0% · 1 rival
One-score games
9–9
50.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–6
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Ole Miss2–340%
The toughest matchup
vs. Houston Nutt0–5
5 meetings, 2004–2008
’04 L’05 L’06 L’07 L’08 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
0–6 0.0%
Power Program
4–17 19.0%
National Program
2–6 25.0%
Regional Program
10–8 55.6%

Coaching career

2004–2008
Mississippi Statecaretaker
National Program III → Regional Program I
Sylvester Croom slid Mississippi State from National Program III to Regional Program I in 5 seasons.

18th-best Mississippi State tenure of 20 by the numbers.

Followed Jackie Sherrill (1991–2003) · succeeded by Dan Mullen (2009–2017).

4 NFL Draft picks: David Stewart (2005), Ronald Fields (2005), Jerious Norwood (2006), Antonio Johnson (2007)

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