South Carolina coaches share impact of Sylvester Croom

The College Football Hall of Fame gets inducted Tuesday night, and one person going in had a significant impact on the South Carolina coaching staff.

Sylvester Croom will be inducted in front of a crowd of people, one of those being Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer.

It’s a busy time for Beamer, with recruiting and preparing for a bowl game later this month. But he’s willing to take a few days to celebrate the man who played a pivotal role in his coaching career.

“I would not miss that for the world to go out there and celebrate that with him,” Beamer said. “For the opportunity he gave me back in 2004 when I was a 26-year-old graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee, and he gave me a full-time job in the SEC. I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

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Mississippi State hired Croom on Dec. 1, 2003. He became the first black head coach in the SEC, leading the Bulldogs to 21 wins in five seasons. This was the only head coaching gig of his 40-year career.

Beamer spent three seasons under Croom as the Bulldogs’ cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. He later transitioned to coaching running backs in 2006.

In his first year coaching running backs, he helped kickstart Anthony Dixon’s college career. He set true freshman records for rushing attempts, yards gained rushing and rushing touchdowns. Dixon finished with 3,994 yards and 42 touchdowns in four seasons and went on to play with the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills.

Croom knew Beamer was going to be a special coach someday.

“His willingness to do whatever he could to help the program, and not necessarily help himself, is what jumped out at me,” Croom told ESPN. “He was smart and confident, and yet willing to listen and learn from people with more experience. … He wasn’t one of those guys who just threw things out there. Any ideas or thoughts he had were well thought out. Even at a young age, he commanded respect.”

So far, he hasn’t been wrong about his former assistant. Beamer has gone 15-10 and guided South Carolina to two bowl appearances in an equal amount of seasons.

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Beamer might be far removed from his Mississippi State days, but he hasn’t fully forgotten where he came from. So much so, some coaches from Croom’s coaching tree have joined his staff.

Tight ends coach Jody Wright joined South Carolina in February 2022. He joined Mississippi State’s staff in 2005, where he started as a volunteer defensive assistant coach before becoming a graduate assistant for three years. He became the director of football operations in 2009, the year after Croom resigned.

During Wright’s first two years in Starkville, he worked with Beamer and built a lasting connection.

“I was still young and getting into the profession,” Beamer said. “He was just getting into the profession. But it was obvious in his work ethic and what a go-getter he is. Somebody that I have kept in touch with over the years and have a lot of respect for.”

Wright learned a lot from Croom, whom he worked under for four seasons. He called him “one of the greatest men and greatest coaches.”

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for coach Croom,” Wright said. “Coach Croom was the first minority head coach in the Southeastern Conference. Everything he did with that and a lot of things in Mississippi, how he changed young men’s lives. Still talk to a lot of those guys today that are coaches and different things and the impact he made.”

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When Croom took over at Mississippi State, he inherited a team that finished last in the SEC West for the past three years. One of the coaches on his inaugural staff was Freddie Kitchens.

“He doesn’t get a whole lot of credit for that because of the situation that he went into in Starkville, Mississippi,” Kitchens told reporters when he was with the Browns. “When you talk about the first African-American football coach in the conference, that’s huge for him to carry that on his shoulders during that time.”

“To see how he came through the fire per se and still be the man that he is, I mean, one of the most impressive things that I’ve ever seen.”

Kitchens was the tight ends coach in 2004 and became the running backs coach one year later, the same position Beamer ultimately coached.

“Freddie was somebody that I coached with at Mississippi State back in 2004 when Sylvester Croom became the head coach,” Beamer said. “He mentioned to Woody McCorvey, who is on Dabo’s (Swinney) staff at Clemson, ‘I’m looking for two young guys I can hire cheap.’ Freddie and I certainly fit the bill back then…We were both on coach Croom’s staff at Mississippi State that year and became very good friends. And then he left after two years to go work for Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys.”

More than 18 years since their first year together, Kitchens works as a senior football analyst on Beamer’s staff at South Carolina. But he still feels fortunate to have worked for Croom.

“I was very blessed to be a part of that,” Kitchens said about being on Croom’s coaching staff.

Croom will be one of 18 former players heading into the College Football Hall of Fame this week. Before his coaching career began, he played center for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1972-74.

The induction ceremony will be held Tuesday, Dec. 6, during the 64th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas.

“I’m looking forward to going out there and honoring (Croom) as he’s honored,” Beamer said.

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