Should Sylvester Croom be Georgia's Next Defensive Coordinator?

Over at Dawg Sports, there is a movement afoot to bring Sylvester Croom back to the SEC as Georgia's new defensive coordinator.

First, it should be noted that the Georgia Bulldogs do not have a current opening for defensive coordinator.  However, if we look at the last 12 games (a season's worth), UGA opponents have scored 30 or more points 7 times.  In that same time, Vanderbilt has only given up 30+ points once.  I'm not any sort of job security expert, but it seems likely that the Dawgs will have an opening for defensive coordinator sometime between now and January.

Croom is an interesting choice.  He has experience in the SEC, having been a position coach at Alabama for 11 years, as well as his 5 year stint with the Bizzaro Bulldogs.  His tenure at Mississippi State was a mixed bag, having won SEC coach of the year in 2007 after going 8-5, but was 13-33 in his other four seasons in Starkville.  By many accounts, including this one, Croom is a great guy.  He would probably fit right in with Mark Richt's staff.  While he didn't seem to be an all-star recruiter at Mississippi State, he was after all at Mississippi State.  The Georgia Bulldogs have lots of advantages not enjoyed by the Bizzaro Bulldogs: lots of money, lots of home grown talent, and a history of winning.  Besides, Georgia's problem isn't recruiting.

Here's the biggest problem with hiring Croom as the next defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia: he hasn't coached defense since 1986.  By next year, there won't be a single defensive player at Georgia that was even alive the last time Croom coached defense.  That's not to say that Sylvester Croom wouldn't be a great defensive coordinator.  He is however, a bit of an unknown commodity as a defensive coordinator.

Croom has great intangibles and would bring a lot of excitement to the Georgia Bulldog's football program.  However, his appointment to the defensive coordinator position should be conditioned on his affirmative responses to the following questions:  Are you willing to make changes when what you are currently doing stops working?  Can you adapt your defensive scheme to changes in the opposing team's offensive schemes?  Will you blitz, at least occasionally in 3rd and long situations?  Will you commit to turning the defensive players into mean, hard hitting dudes, like this:


Notice the blitz, too.

-Dex