Sylvester Croom Jr., the first Black head coach in the Southeastern Conference, was present at the HBCU Combine in Mobile, Alabama. Croom was the head coach for Mississippi State from 2004 to 2008 and won SEC Coach of the Year in 2007.
Croom has had an illustrious career, and he hopes his story can inspire other Black coaches around the league.
“I hope the opportunit[ies] will get a lot easier and better for coaches coming along,” Croom said. “It’s better than it was when I started out. At the time, I never even aspired to be a head coach because there were no people that looked like me.”
Croom explained that during his coaching tenure, he tried to make things better for other coaches surrounding him.
“When I was a head coach, I tried to make sure we operated in a manner that would make it easier and inspire other Black coaches to prepare to be head coaches.”
With the NFL only having one Black head coach currently, many believe there should be more Black men that have the opportunity to coach, and Croom has an answer to the problem.
“A lot of young Black men in the coaching profession should get the opportunity to be coaches at the college or professional level, and it’s not happening fast enough. We have to continue to push for inclusion, and then we have to continue to prepare to get ready to get these jobs. I hope that it will change for the better real soon.”
