Now that we're 5 years past Sly's last crootin class. Give you objective

gtowndawg

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Jan 23, 2007
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In my mind "top heavy" describes them

in retrospect he signed some really good players. Each class had 4 or 5 of them. But the bottom 15 of each class was lacking...that's what killed us. Anytime you fight off MTSU and Troy for the last 10 guys you sign...well, you know the rest of the story. No quality depth.
 

FISHDAWG

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I'll acknowledge that he had a few jems ... but what he really needed to recruit was an offensive coordinator ... I think that hurt him maybe more than mediocre recruiting did ... of course this is JMO
 

Railin Jemmye

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First off, he has to get credit for half of 09.

Second, I think he did OK except for not getting down here in late 03 and basically sacrificing the 04 class. He did very, very average (for MSU), nothing more. He got guys who wanted to be here and would play hard. Did some pretty good evaluations of under the radar guys. But, he did NOT succeed in keeping all the MS talent home. And that wasn't because of Orgeron, I think it's because Croom tried to play the hard-*** angle and didn't want to really kiss anyone's ***. And that may be fine, had he known how to run an offense and special teams.

Definitely got better as he went, but still average at best. Alot of attrition, but he usually made up for it with JUCOs and created a solid two deep.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Oct 29, 2012
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Agreed. We talk about his QB/WR recruiting...but he did have a damn fine dual threat in Omarr Conner for 3 of his years, then Carroll/Lee. Recruiting wasn't really his issue, at least not getting him to the bowl team level.

He just couldn't run an offense. Mullen is definitely recruiting at a higher level right now, and that's why we'll soon be in the 9-10 win range.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Oct 29, 2012
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Disagree on the QB recrootin......

As has been laid out before....

Croom QB recruits, who got to campus:

Mike Henig
Tray Rutland
Ty Evans
Josh Riddell
Wes Carroll
Chris Relf
Tyson Lee
Tyler Russell

Mullen QB recruits, who got campus:

Tyler Russell
Dylan Favre
Dak Prescott
Nick Scheussler
Jamil Golden
2013????

Again, this is about recruiting, not in-game performance. With better coaching, Croom's boys could have been OK. It's not their fault they all regressed as soon as he influenced them at all.

If Mullen lands Sandberg, all bets are off. Even if he lands O'Korn or similar I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But if we whiff, can't see he's been better than Croom. Either you'll have to say both have been terrible, or quit saying that Croom was.
 

Coach 57

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Aug 22, 2012
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C34 I hate to agree with Goat on anything but he is right on the money with this. Every year Mullen had wiffed on a high level QB talent and normally uses SO much time recruiting said high level QB that when he can't close....we have to get a guy who is FAR beyond the high level guys skills. Like we missed on Cam and got Dak, missed on Liggins, had to settle for Favre, missed on Wallace had to get Scheussler. Now again we are gonna miss on Sandberg and Dobbs and now we MIGHT not get a good qb in O'korn because of the same crap. We have got to stop doing this. We desperatly need to sign at least 1 good qb and now with 2 weeks left we are in a mad scramble to lock one down. That's ridiculous! Especially for a guy who supposedly has alot of knowledge about this position.
 

Coach34

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Mike Henig- ****** and couldnt handle the roughnessof the SEC
Tray Rutland- ****** and ended up at JacksonState
Ty Evans- I was better at 19 than this guy was
Josh Riddell- played a handful of snaps- tore his ACL- never heard from again
Wes Carroll- ended up being ok playing for aspread team at another school
Chris Relf- would have been the worst CroomCoastOffense QB in the history of football- ended up being a decent Spread QB once he got away from Crooms
Tyson Lee- too short to play SEC football...no offers and ended up walking on here at QB U
Tyler Russell- we'll never know if he would have stuck if Crooms had stayed

I dont know how anybody could look at that group and say anything other than ******, ******, QB recruiting...were any of them besides Russell more than a 2-star?

Mullen?

Russell- solidified his signature to State...arguably the best passing QB in school history (altho I would have liked to have seen Threadgill and Conner in this offense)
Farve? At the very least was as good as any of those doorknobs Crooms recruited
Prescott? Accounted for 8 TD's as a R-Freshman and kept numerous other drives alive in playing for one of the top 5 scoring offenses in school history
Cord Sandberg? One of the highest rated QB's we will have signed

It's not even a contest as to whose QB recruiting was better
 

tenureplan

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Dec 3, 2008
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Maybe he's setting the bar too high. But I have to agree with 34 in that even though he's had a lot of misses, its still better than what Croom brought in as first choices. I would have liked to have seen Riddell more, but had he not gotten hurt, I'm sure Croom would have found a reason not to play him.
 

57stratdawg

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Dec 1, 2004
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in retrospect he signed some really good players. Each class had 4 or 5 of them. But the bottom 15 of each class was lacking...that's what killed us. Anytime you fight off MTSU and Troy for the last 10 guys you sign...well, you know the rest of the story. No quality depth.

I would 100% with that, but make the argument that the bottom guys under Mullen aren't much different than under Croom. I think there is more separation with those middle of the pack guys.
 

gtowndawg

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Jan 23, 2007
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Good point. This might be the first year we sign

quality guys at the bottom as well. Under Mullen or Croom.
 

Coach34

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Mike Henig- 2-star...unrated QB out of HS
Tray Rutland- 2-star-unrated QB out of HS
Ty Evans-2-star QB
Josh Riddell- 2-star QB
Wesley Carroll- an actual 3-star QB we beat Duke out for
Chris Relf- 2-star unranked QB that ran the wing-T in HS- yet recruited to run the WCO
Tyson Lee- unranked out of HS and ended up walking on due to no other offers
Tyler Russell- has to share with Mullen

aGAIN- no way to tout this group in any way close to Mullen's...Hell, Mullen got Golden to walk-on- and he was rated higher than every Croom signee
 

Railin Jemmye

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Oct 29, 2012
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C34 I hate to agree with Goat on anything but he is right on the money with this

You have said this like 23 times in the past week.

Best get used to it, and realize that I'm the guy who really does know what's going on out there. I don't go for the trendy opinion, or the emotional 'based on one season' opinion. I form MY OWN opinion.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Croom gifted Mullen damn near half a high rated recruiting class.....

...and easily his best one to date. That crap doesn't matter, how or why they got the players.

I can't believe ya'll are making me take up for Croom. Mullen does so many things better than Croom, but ya'll are harping on the wrong ones.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Oct 29, 2012
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Well, at least you realized that your previous post had absolutely NOTHING to do with the players potential at recruiting time, so you posted this one.

Russell cancels out, Croom committed him, Mullen signed him. Wash.
Carroll = Prescott, who is the ONLY QB prospect Mullen has brought in.
Lee was a serviceable QB, Riddell had plenty of potential as well.
Rutland at least had a few offers but got hurt pre-college. Better than Favre or Scheussler anyhow.

Nobody is claiming that Mullen isn't worlds better than Croom at developing QBs, and basically every other offensive position on the field. He is, he blows Croom away. We're talking sheer recruiting. Mullen's hasn't been better than Croom's to date.
 

ScoobaDawg

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Jun 4, 2007
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I cant believe this much thought and space has been wasted for any positive debate for that fat lazy HORRIBLE pos.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Tyson Lee was a 4 star, so was Josh Riddell. Woops. I mean, since you're going by ratings now, since I proved you wrong based on potential.

I guess next you want to move onto offers? Not that we'll ever know for sure, but Rutland had some good offers before getting hurt. Carroll had NC State/Duke. Dak had LSU at the last minute. Henig had Louisville.
 
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patdog

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May 28, 2007
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If Tyson Lee was a 4*, that proves my point that I've been making for years. That the guys running the recruiting services don't know a decent foootball player from a hole in the ground.
 

BiscuitEater

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Don't ...

Hell, Mullen got Golden to walk-on- and he was rated higher than every Croom signee

Count two QBs that are not even at school. Agree that Cord is the highest rated QB we have recruited, BUT, he is not on campus and may never show up. Mullen got Golden to walk-on and he is gone before ever taking a snap.

It may be just me, but guys that 'show up' and at least stick around > than those that don't, no matter how high they are rated.
 

kired

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Aug 22, 2008
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2004 - terrible, only signed about 5 starters. Out of 23 commitments, maybe 10 actually stayed for 4 years. But I give Croom a bit of a pass here... 21 of his 23 signees committed after he was hired. I don't remember if he lost Sherrill commits, or if we just didn't have any. But he came into a terrible situation.

2005 & 2006 - both below average classes, but not terrible. Primarily built depth with a few stars sprinkled in (Pegues, Fitzhugh, Dixon, Chaney, Kyle Love, Antonio Johnson).

2007 - Croom's best class. Benefitted from being able to sign & enroll so many players. A few NFL guys (KJ, Sherrod, Dominic Douglas) and a decent amount of multi-year starters.

2008 - terrible... maybe worse than 2004 considering Croom had time to recruit. What's so bad it that many of these guys committed relatively early. Apparently we were offering scholarships to anybody & everybody. Another class with only about 5 starters. Mitchell, Tobias Smith, Broomfield, and secret weapon were the best of this class. Also got a decent punter.

What stands out to me about Croom is how many of the guys he signed never got to campus or, for one reason or another, quit after 1-2 years. Somewhere around 40%. I still think he was a decent recruiter considering how terrible his teams were. I don't understand how he convinced anyone with another SEC offer to sign with him.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Well, I meant the about Croom actually doing some good things. But the things he absolutely sucked at and ultimately got him fired, well, that hurts much worse and far outnumber the other.
 

Railin Jemmye

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Coach34

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http://mississippistate.scout.com/a.z?s=136&p=8&c=1&nid=2993084

Let's not hate, though. Lee was serviceable. Should have been at least a 3 star coming out of JUCO. He wasn't the one who lost us games in 2008 and 2009. He actually made some big throws in 2009.

I was pissed that Croom put him in vs. LTech in 2008. I think that whole game should have been Carroll's.

That is the worst evaluation I believe that I have ever seen...wow

4-star QB's don't walk-on to bottom feeder teams
 
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ket7450

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Todd4State

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That is the worst evaluation I believe that I have ever seen...wow

4-star QB's don't walk-on to bottom feeder teams

I always thought it was hilarious that we had a four star walk-on. I bet Alabama hasn't even had one of those.

The whole profile is kind of funny- it lists Tyson as 5'11" and then the video is basically him throwing screens and dumping off passes to the running back with a few "deep" throws mixed in.