Sylvester Croom

Sylvester Croom began his coaching career in the SEC as an assistant at the University of Alabama, and in 2004 he became the first African American head coach in SEC history when he took over as coach of the Mississippi State football program. Croom coached the Bulldogs for five seasons with limited success. He won three games in each of his first three seasons, but blossomed in 2007 with an 8-5 campaign including an even 4-4 mark in SEC play. The ’07 Bulldogs went on to win the Liberty Bowl in their only bowl appearance of the Croom era, and Croom was named SEC Coach of the Year at season’s end.

Mississippi State regressed to 4-8 in 2008 and Croom was asked to resign at the end of the season. In five seasons in Starkville his teams were a combined 21-38 and 10-30 against SEC foes, never finishing better than third in the SEC West. Croom’s five years at MSU remain his only head coaching experience, but since he was hired in 2004 there have been four more African American head coaches hired in the SEC: Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M- active), Derek Mason (Vanderbilt- active), James Franklin (Vanderbilt) and Joker Phillips (Kentucky).

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.