Ole Miss, MSU fans need to chill
By By Will Bardwell/ staff writer
September 23, 2004
Well that didn't take very long.
Three weeks into the college football season, some fans are already calling for Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe and Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom to be fired. Both are terribly unenthusiastic coaches, detractors say, who are overly conservative and don't know the first thing about calling plays.
Give it a rest, folks.
Granted, the two teams' 1-2 records aren't worth getting excited about. But they're not cause to raise a posse of vigilantes, either.
I don't know if fans of the Rebels and Bulldogs have noticed this yet, but after three weeks, one thing is abundantly clear to me your teams aren't very good. Sorry, but it's true. And that's not entirely the fault of the coaches.
Sure, Cutcliffe recruited everyone on his team, but that's a lousy excuse for wanting to fire him. His players, for the most part, are wonderfully talented. So far, they just haven't executed. That happens to a lot of teams early in the year.
In today's world of limited scholarships and mandated parity, teams like Ole Miss and Mississippi State are always going to have to go through rebuilding years every now and then. This is one such year for the Rebels.
The likes of Oklahoma, Florida State, LSU and other powerhouses can get around that by pouring money into facilities, coaches' salaries, etc. Mississippi schools, though, are never going to have that luxury.
And after a 10-3 season in 2003, Ole Miss fans could stand a five-win or six-win season. Close wins against Vanderbilt keep you humble. Hey, it's still a Southeastern Conference victory.
Besides you could be rooting for a team that has just one SEC win in the past two years.
Even worse, you could be charged with turning that program around. That's Sylvester Croom's plight.
Say what you want about Vanderbilt being the perennial doormat in the SEC. I know that even Mississippi State topped Vandy last year. But I've seen both Mississippi State and Vanderbilt in each of the last five years, and I'm telling you right now, Vandy is better. Mississippi State is quite literally the worst team in the conference.
But that's not Croom's fault. He just doesn't have the talent he needs to compete in the SEC. Heck, after the Bulldogs' 9-7 loss to Maine, Croom may not have the talent to compete in the Atlantic 10.
Regardless, it's not his fault, and it's ridiculous to imply that he's the wrong man for the job. He brings a focus on discipline and fundamentals that was sorely lacking in Starkville.
I have no doubt that Croom is going to turn Mississippi State around, but even he has admitted it's going to take time.
And besides, both Ole Miss and Mississippi State still have eight games to play. Who's to say either one of them won't right their ship? The Rebels started 2-2 last year before reeling off six straight wins. I don't expect either MSU or Ole Miss to go undefeated for the next two months, but there's no reason to write off the entire season yet.
Even if neither of them do recover, though, rebuilding years are just a fact of life in college football today. Even though State hasn't had a winning season since the Clinton administration, I have no doubt that under Croom, State is on the right track.
Likewise, Cutcliffe is still the same coach who has led Ole Miss to bowl games in four of his first five seasons. He and Croom are both immensely talented at what they do.
For now, Ole Miss and Mississippi State fans need to chill out and let them do it.
