The coach residing on one of college football’s hottest seats last year now has the comfort of a new four-year contract after leading Mississippi State to a surprising 8-5 record (4-4 in the SEC) in 2007.
Sylvester Croom, the first black football coach in SEC history, got his new contract late last week, which starts at $1.7 million for this season. Four-year contracts are the maximum allowable under Mississippi state law. Salary figures of the other three years were not disclosed.
"We've come a long way in the last four years in terms of making a commitment of making a championship program and doing things the right way," Croom said. "We're not where some of the other schools are but I think we've made a huge, huge improvement and I am totally satisfied with the financial package for myself and for my assistant coaches as well, and the commitment that the university has made."
Croom originally agreed to a two-year extension through the 2011 season in January, shortly after he was named the SEC Coach of the Year for leading Mississippi State to regular season wins over rivals Ole Miss and Alabama and a Liberty Bowl victory over Central Florida, MSU’s first bowl game since 2000.
He seemed a strong candidate to be let go entering 2007, as the Bulldogs were 9-25 under him in his first three seasons, including a 4-20 mark in the SEC.One unique part of his new deal is that one of Croom’s future pay incentives will be based on Academic Progress Rate numbers, the NCAA's new academic measurement tool that penalizes programs that fail to meet outlined standards.
It is believed the 53-year-old Croom is the first collegiate head coach to have a contract with incentives based on APR numbers.
"We are excited that Coach Croom's contract is signed," new athletic director Greg Byrne said in a release. “He has brought our football program back to the level of play everyone anticipated when he was hired in 2004.”
The Bulldogs, who were taken off probation by the NCAA earlier in June, begin practice on Aug. 3.
With Houston Nutt now at Ole Miss, football might be on the rise in Mississippi.
MSU’s 2008 schedule
8/30 @ Louisiana Tech
9/06 Southeastern Louisiana
9/13 Auburn
9/20 @ Georgia Tech
9/27 @ LSU
10/11 Vanderbilt
10/18 @ Tennessee
10/25 Middle Tennessee
11/01 Kentucky
11/15 @ Alabama
11/22 Arkansas
11/28 @ Mississippi
Bet on who will win the SEC at WagerWeb.com
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