I know its bleacher report- but at least the topic is interesting
http://bleacherreport.com...very-bcs-program/page/34
http://bleacherreport.com...very-bcs-program/page/34
worst State coach in history?
- Thread starter Coach34
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I know its bleacher report- but at least the topic is interesting
http://bleacherreport.com...very-bcs-program/page/34
http://bleacherreport.com...very-bcs-program/page/34
Felker or Croom? In comparing Felker (21-34) and Croom (21-38) I would say that Croom was slightly worse. Croom had the worst offensive schemes and execution I think I have ever seen at MSU. If Felker had been able to get an Ellis Johnson quality assistant on his staff as DC like Croom did then I think Felker would have done significantly better than Croom.
claim to this, might not. I havealways thought that Rocky was close his last year. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done that next year. Who knows, he might STILL be here as HC if he had that one more year. He was just not quite readyto be a HC when he was hired. One thing I will always be greatful to him for: He is probably one of the biggest reasons I'm MSU due to his playing days.
And Giles and the cigar boys at the time tried to renew his contract for another 4 years before some folks with guts stood up and objected.
has there EVER been a coach in our history that the fanbase was united that it was time for them to go. It continues to amaze me how a segment of our fanbase seem to NEVER think we need a change at any HC position OR that if we do have a change we need to recycle old coaches (ie. Polk I and Polk II).
(1) Pretty sure there were different scholarship limits. Bigger schools could tie up a lot more talent.
(2) This goes counter to #1 above, but was there as much of a gap between the SEC and the lower conferences when Felker was here? Scouting was not ubiquitous the way it is now, so lots more diamonds in the rough to find back then.
(3) Did Felker ever have a top quality coordinator opposite his side of the ball? Anything less than an excellent defensive coordinator, and Crooms record looks even more terrible.
(4) Don't think anybody ever wondered whether somebody being from Alabama would make Felker more likely to want to perform fellatio on them. Not exactly an issue of coaching but relevant.
(5) Did Felker throw his players under the bus the way Crooms did?
(6) Did Felker ever bad mouth the university afterward? And claim five years of shittastic football was simply not enough to judge him by?
(2) This goes counter to #1 above, but was there as much of a gap between the SEC and the lower conferences when Felker was here? Scouting was not ubiquitous the way it is now, so lots more diamonds in the rough to find back then.
(3) Did Felker ever have a top quality coordinator opposite his side of the ball? Anything less than an excellent defensive coordinator, and Crooms record looks even more terrible.
(4) Don't think anybody ever wondered whether somebody being from Alabama would make Felker more likely to want to perform fellatio on them. Not exactly an issue of coaching but relevant.
(5) Did Felker throw his players under the bus the way Crooms did?
(6) Did Felker ever bad mouth the university afterward? And claim five years of shittastic football was simply not enough to judge him by?
<div>SEC Records</div><div>
</div>Shira:<div>1967: 0-6</div><div>1968: 0-4-2</div><div>1969: 0-5</div><div>1970: 3-4</div><div>1971: 1-7</div><div>1972: 1-6</div><div>total: 5-32-2</div><div>15.38%</div><div>
</div><div>Felker:</div><div>1986: 2-4</div><div>1987: 1-5</div><div>1988: 0-7</div><div>1989: 1-6</div><div>1990: 1-6</div><div>total: 5-28</div><div>15.15%</div><div>
</div><div>Given the sample size, we're probably well inside the margin of error for saying which coach would have had the better winning percentage in a much longer coaching career. Plus Charley went winless twice. And that season with 2 ties had Texas Tech counting as a conference game. Take that game out of the SEC record and Shira becomes worse than Felker.</div><div>
</div><div>But look at the total record:</div><div>Shira: 16-45-2 (27%)</div><div>Felker: 21-34 (38%)</div><div>
</div><div>That is a much bigger difference. Felker at least put up a decent showing against OOC opponents (16-6 vs 11-13).</div><div>
</div><div>My vote is for Crooms because of the way he ultimately treated the fan base and school. He seemed to be sadder about coaching his last game at Bama than his last game as a Bulldog. At least Shira stuck around as AD and Felker came back to stay. I don't think Crooms would stop to get gas in Starkville.</div>
</div>Shira:<div>1967: 0-6</div><div>1968: 0-4-2</div><div>1969: 0-5</div><div>1970: 3-4</div><div>1971: 1-7</div><div>1972: 1-6</div><div>total: 5-32-2</div><div>15.38%</div><div>
</div><div>Felker:</div><div>1986: 2-4</div><div>1987: 1-5</div><div>1988: 0-7</div><div>1989: 1-6</div><div>1990: 1-6</div><div>total: 5-28</div><div>15.15%</div><div>
</div><div>Given the sample size, we're probably well inside the margin of error for saying which coach would have had the better winning percentage in a much longer coaching career. Plus Charley went winless twice. And that season with 2 ties had Texas Tech counting as a conference game. Take that game out of the SEC record and Shira becomes worse than Felker.</div><div>
</div><div>But look at the total record:</div><div>Shira: 16-45-2 (27%)</div><div>Felker: 21-34 (38%)</div><div>
</div><div>That is a much bigger difference. Felker at least put up a decent showing against OOC opponents (16-6 vs 11-13).</div><div>
</div><div>My vote is for Crooms because of the way he ultimately treated the fan base and school. He seemed to be sadder about coaching his last game at Bama than his last game as a Bulldog. At least Shira stuck around as AD and Felker came back to stay. I don't think Crooms would stop to get gas in Starkville.</div>
i started in 1988. the first football game i went to was a win... it was in a torrential downpour (not blaming felker for the rain)... but it was our only win on the year.
we played tennessee in starkville his last year....and i seem to recall the game plan went something like this....
up middle.
dive left.
dive right.
punt.
we completed zero passes in the first half. we attempted zero passes. no exaggeration... i don't know what the plan was with that... run out the time and *hope* T would fumble in their own endzone multiple times?
we played tennessee in starkville his last year....and i seem to recall the game plan went something like this....
up middle.
dive left.
dive right.
punt.
we completed zero passes in the first half. we attempted zero passes. no exaggeration... i don't know what the plan was with that... run out the time and *hope* T would fumble in their own endzone multiple times?
I heard that so much the first year I started going to games as a kid, it is still one of the most vivid memories as a State fan. Reekris.
I know it's not popular on this board, but I'm going to have to say that Croom was better than Felker simply because Croom had more "big wins" over SEC teams- like Florida, Alabama twice, at Auburn, at a ranked Kentucky team in 2007, and Arkansas in 2008. He also pulled off two Egg Bowl wins and a Liberty Bowl win- granted it was much easier to go to a bowl in Croom's era.
Regardless, it's a shiny turd contest.
I would have to say that Shira was the worst in MSU history though.
Regardless, it's a shiny turd contest.
I would have to say that Shira was the worst in MSU history though.
....so much so, we named the athletic facility after him. is there a darrell royal anything on campus?
what i find amusing about the relating of croom to felker is that croom and shira are more similar in that the one season they did have success.... they were given CoY awards.
what i find amusing about the relating of croom to felker is that croom and shira are more similar in that the one season they did have success.... they were given CoY awards.
I know you guys knock on Croom a lot, and if you want to say that his record, final Ole Miss game, offense, stubbornness, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks sucked then you are correct. However, I would argue that the program Dan Mullen took over as head coach was far better from an attitude, academic, and work ethic standpoint than the program that Croom took over. Croom was not a good coach, but I will give him credit in the sense that he left the job better than he found it, however small of a margin that may be. I do believe that the foundation that Croom help lay has helped Mullen to some degree.
G
Goat Still Grindin
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Felker was bad, but at least he was a hell of a recruiter and was more "consistent" thus much less frustrating. What did he go, 6-5, 4-7, Tech and 10, and then three 5-6 seasons? <div>
</div><div>Croom just lost games he should have won. We were better than 3-9 in '04, '05 and '06. He ALWAYS underachieved, except 2007 when we won games in spite of ourselves. Yes, I held out hope throughout his tenure that he'd finally get it, but even I couldn't deny it would just never happen. I give him credit for solidifying the program though after Sherrill's collapse. </div><div>
</div><div>That being said, Felker's guys looked the part more than Croom's did, but they both left a manageable program for the next coach. I guess Croom gets the edge for most terrible because of his attitude in general toward MSU. Felker was one of our own.</div>
</div><div>Croom just lost games he should have won. We were better than 3-9 in '04, '05 and '06. He ALWAYS underachieved, except 2007 when we won games in spite of ourselves. Yes, I held out hope throughout his tenure that he'd finally get it, but even I couldn't deny it would just never happen. I give him credit for solidifying the program though after Sherrill's collapse. </div><div>
</div><div>That being said, Felker's guys looked the part more than Croom's did, but they both left a manageable program for the next coach. I guess Croom gets the edge for most terrible because of his attitude in general toward MSU. Felker was one of our own.</div>
Was Shira the coach during Rocky's great Sun Bowl season (1974)? If so, we can credit each of the candidates with one decent or almost decent season. Felker did a good job building the O and D line back to competetivness by the time he left. We were beyond horrible when he started. After the 6-1 start, we couldn't stop Granny Clampit between the tackles. It was pathetic watching Bama and Auburn covert every one of our three and outs to a no-sweat touchdown. In his last season, we were two missed field goals and and a bad decision to go for it on 4th down instead of kicking from being 6-4-1 instead of 4-7. Croom had his one great year, too. I don 't think you can call him the worst in our history with an unlikely bowl victory to his credit. The sad fact is that we have our first real coach of the modern era in Dan Mullen. Bravo and finally. Let's encourage BR to "write" about something else.
But like you say, a shiny turd is still a stinker. Here's to Dan Mullen sealing his position as the best coach in our history.
