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Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Sylvester Croom has never been one to second-guess himself, and he's not about to start now.

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	Sylvester Croom left the Mississippi State program in better shape than it was when he took over.

Hired Thursday to coach running backs for the St. Louis Rams, Croom said a part of him will always be nestled at Mississippi State. He poured his heart into that program over the last five years and fully intended to finish what he started.

But when the Bulldogs bottomed out last season at 4-8, capped by an embarrassing 45-0 loss to Ole Miss, new Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne made the decision he didn't want to make, but one he felt like was in the best long-term interest of the program.

He told Croom the Bulldogs were moving in another direction.

"That's where we are now in college football," Croom said. "It happens everywhere, not just at Mississippi State. There's not going to be a lot of patience if you're not winning at a high level and don't continue to win at a high level."

Croom's not bitter, though, not in the least bit.

Asked if he'd do it all over again, even knowing now how it would all end, he answered emphatically, "Oh yeah."

He admits that he debated heavily whether it was the right move when he took the job prior to the 2004 season. It was a huge undertaking, and Croom was well aware of how daunting a rebuilding task he faced. The Bulldogs were about to get hit with crippling NCAA sanctions, hadn't won more than three games for three straight years when Croom took over and had some of the worst facilities in the SEC.

"I took the job for a variety of reasons, and every one of them was a good reason," said Croom, the first black head football coach in SEC history. "Hey, I'm thankful to have had the chance. I'm thankful to Mississippi State, thankful to (former president) Charles Lee and thankful to (former athletic director) Larry Templeton. There are a lot of good coaches out there who never get a chance.

"I'm also thankful that they let me do it my way regardless if people agree with me or not. I did it the way I felt like things needed to be done and have no regrets about the way I did things. I wanted to leave it a better place than I found it, and I wanted my name to have the same integrity as when I went into it.

"I believe I was able to do both of those things."