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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Mississippi State is expected to make history (no later than Saturday) when Sylvester Croom is named the Bulldogs head football coach. MSU AD Larry Templeton has been tight-lipped about the search for a replacement to the retiring Jackie Sherrill. LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher visited Starkville, so most had expected he would get the job. But Fisher “withdrew” from the search on Thursday (translation: MSU didn’t want him). Croom, a former Alabama player and assistant who’s been an NFL assistant for the last 17 years, was one of the finalists for the Alabama job last summer. If State hires him, he will become the first black head football coach hired by an SEC school. And likely will become the first black head football coach to be fired by an SEC school. Croom, who’s now the Green Bay Packers running back coach, had to work on Thursday, but he’s expected to fly into StarkVegas on Friday. State fans are looking for any shred of good news after that debacle on Thursday night. 31-0 and it wasn’t that close.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss players and fans were pulling for Arkansas against LSU on Friday. … Sorry about that Rebel Nation. Your consolation prize: A trip to the Cotton Bowl.

Previous Comments

It is about time!!!Maybe, I do live in the New South afer all.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.