Sylvester Croom

Sylvester Croom Jr. is an American former football player and coach. He was the head coach at Mississippi State University from 2004 to 2008, and the first African American head football coach in the Southeastern Conference. His father, Sylvester Croom Sr., was himself an All-American football player at Alabama A&M, later the team chaplain at the University of Alabama, and has been recognized by that school as one of the state's 40 pioneers of civil rights. After his time at Mississippi State, Croom Jr. served as running backs coach for three teams in the National Football League (NFL).