Years ago, shortly after Coach Sylvester Croom was hired by Mississippi State, he came to Memphis for a booster club function. I am not a booster for Miss. State but a friend of mine is. He invited me along and I was intrigued by the idea of free food and football talk. Plus, it would be my first time going to an SEC school’s booster club function, which I have heard had could almost be like a TBN telethon: Motivational speaking and LOTS of cash flowing in.

So on this particular evening, we walk in and virtually everyone has on maroon. I had on a white polo shirt, so I did not stick out if I wore something, like, I dunno, orange. Anyway, Coach got up and spoke. For the next several minutes, I was entranced.

He spoke a little bit about his background growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His father was a minister and would also serve as team chaplain at the University of Alabama. Growing up, he had always wanted to go to Alabama and play football, but of course like other major colleges in the South at this time, segregation was still going on. Still, his father told him not to give up on what he wants. Years later, he was playing football at Alabama.

He talked about his time playing for Bear Bryant. He spoke with such reverence for Coach Bryant. He talked about how Bryant would tell his players that it didn’t matter to him what color they were, as long as the played hard and represented the University of Alabama in everything that they did. Croom also said that if anyone heard any stories about how difficult it was to play for Coach Bryant, believe every word of it. One common theme throughout the evening was consistency, and he jokingly said that Coach Bryant was consistently tough in practice day in and out. But he said that Coach Bryant was one of the biggest influences in his life, not just football.

He then talked about what he wanted to do with the program. There was no question that Bulldog football was bad at the time, with NCAA probation and a program with no direction. Croom said the obvious: There’s gonna be an “Under Construction” sign for the next few years on the program and that it would take time. Discipline, hard work, consistency, and faith is what he would preach everyday, and he would request that any player who doesn’t want to abide by these basic tenants or any team rule then they should leave. He spoke with calm but was passionate at the same time, giving me the impression that he had the goods to make a difference . Whether that would turn into wins would be a different story.

The biggest impact was after he spoke. Boosters were lined up to shake his hand and spend a few minutes with him. Of course, it was made known that donations could be made to the program, and there were boosters willing to pony up some cash. My buddy Larry wanted to meet him and I did too, so we decided to wait around. After standing around longer than the checkout line at “Club Wal-Mart” around Christmas, we finally got our chance to meet him. What was originally meant to be a minute or two turned out to be a 10 minute meeting of smiles.

I think the best story that he told us was when he was the offensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions. Barry Sanders was always perceived to be a little shy. He didn’t do many interviews and only did the minimum amount of press. Also, Barry was after all, one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, and NFL players have been known to have just a little bit of an ego. He said Barry was one of the easiest guys he ever coached, and he was one of the funniest. He said that Barry wasn’t “Saturday Night Live” funny, but could make him and teammates smile.

So that night, and I have met a lot of coaches over time, I instantly became a fan of Coach Croom. I also like that whenever the Bulldogs upsets an opponent, they say that the other team “Just got Croomed”. It has been difficult, and maybe he will not become a great coach, especially in the loaded SEC. But, with a little faith, I know that if he can make a difference in me after a few minutes, imagine what he can do with young men for 4 years…

#1 tOSU falls, more chaos for the BCS. This is the best college football season ever!

I’ve already said my piece about Ohio State, but Ron Zook might the Big Eveleen Ten coach of the year.

If Kansas wins out they will play for the national championship. The game against Missouri looms larger than the Kansas coach.

Boston College proves why they were over ranked.

Mark Richt is pumping up the crowd on the sidelines, getting the black jerseys for his players…he’s finally coming out of his shell. No team wants to play Georgia right now. Ask Auburn.

Virginia Tech might be better than what some of us thought.

Welcome back to realty Michigan, however you still have a chance of beating tOSU next week.

Ha Ha Ha Uconn got beat, another Big Least team has their BCS dreams crushed.

South Carolina went from ranked 6 in the country to a joke during their four game losing streak.

It doesn’t matter how many point Nebraska scored against K-State, Callahan is a goner.

NC State is slowly and quietly becoming bowl eligible.

Notice how the Gamecock fans were gone by the middle of the 4th quarter? Yep the old USC is back.

The old Cal team is back is well.

For the last game played in the Orange Bowl, one would think Miami would at least put up a fight.

The offense of Clemson is playing as well anyone in the nation.

Kentucky denies Vandy a chance to be bowl eligible. By the way I got a lot of grief from Kentucky fans over this post. So even though the embarrassing lose to Gardner-Webb isn’t football related, all I can say is: Ha ha ha your team really sucks.

Service Academies 2 Notre Dame 0.

And finally Joel is writing an in-depth piece on Coach Croom. But all I have to say is this:

Others have been fired because of this.

So I profess on this day 11/11/07.

TtT

The task was daunting and everyone, including myself, expected a different outcome than what transpired yesterday when the John Chavis coached defense of Tennessee shut down the Arkansas tailbacks Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and the SEC’s most powerful and productive running attack.

Last week McFadden tied an SEC record of 321 rushing yards against South Carolina, yesterday he gained only 117.

This same defense made John Saran Jessica Parker Wilson look like a Heisman contender, and made Cory “I’m the most over rated running back in SEC history” Boyd look like Emmitt Smith. Fulmer was almost Croomed because of the defense.

Webster’s dictionary defines schizophrenia as:

A psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life.

Plug in the words “The 2007 Tennessee defense” in there as well.

“I don’t want this to come off wrong because I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Arkansas. They’ve got a fine football team,” defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “But I felt and we felt as a coaching staff that if we got lined up, they’d have a tough time moving the football on us.”

True, they did. It’s a shame the defense couldn’t or didn’t play this way every game. We might only have one loss on the season to Florida.

“I mentioned this last week, it’s probably not a defense that will go down in Tennessee history, because we’ve had our struggles,” Chavis said. “But it’s a team, a defensive football team, that’s gotten better each week. We’ve had some tough times, but we’ve gotten better each week.”

No, actually you haven’t gotten better. The defense has had serious meltdowns and thankfully yesterday they didn’t meltdown. But getting better means playing consistently, and hopefully they will the rest of year or you’ll be fired.

Also this performance comes shortly a letter from the “Tennessee Football Letterman” was run in the form of an ad in Friday’s News Sentinel newspaper. Click here to see the add. (Adobe Acrobat is required)

One paragraph that stands out in that is this:

“Don’t misunderstand us; the seriousness of the consequences has nothing to do with the possibility of Phillip Fulmer losing a job.”

Cough BS Cough. I question if all those signatures are truly on that letter, but that’s just me. But one thing is for sure, if these players know what they speak of - then why are there so many off field issues and on field shortfalls? If Fulmer was doing a good job there would be no need for players begging. Hopefully Phil can take this momentum all the way to the SEC championship game.

So I profess on this day 11/11/07.

TtT

SEC speed wins again.

Jim Tressel must come back to reality now. After being nut-punched by Florida in the 2006 championship game, Ron Zook brought his Illinois team, or as I like to call them, the mini Gators, to the Horseshoe to show Jim Tressel that the speed of the SEC even rules in Big Eleven Ten play.

Juice Williams made some big plays on the ground and through the air, guiding Illinois to a stunning 28-21 using SEC speed and mucking up the national title race yet again this season.

It was the first time Illinois has ever beaten a No. 1 team. The defeat also ended a record streak of 20 Big Ten wins in a row by Ohio State.

The Illini rushed for 260 yards against an Ohio State defense that came in allowing just 65 yards on the ground per game. So much for that vaunted number 1 rated defense huh?

Not since Nov. 14, 1959, had Michigan and Ohio State both lost the week before their annual year-end game that will once again decide the Big Eleven Ten champion.

GAME SUMMARY

Somewhere Albert the gator is laughing right now.

So I profess on this day 11/11/07.

TtT