Etiquette and table manners seminars?
Oooh, the Croom-haters are really going to love this. College football coaches fret in players’ time out [subscription]
“How they handle themselves between now and the start of training camp will have a profound effect on what kind of season we have,” Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said….Mississippi State’s Croom pounds the message home with his players by bringing in speakers from every law enforcement agency in Starkville, including the sheriff’s department, the highway patrol, narcotics agents, campus police and city police. Players hear from on-campus experts in domestic violence prevention. Croom even plans seminars on etiquette and table manners as part of a broader message that his players will be held to the highest standards in everything they do.
“They cannot be like everyone else,” Croom said. “They have to be disciplined and mature enough to understand that.”
Croom hasn’t hesitated to get rid of players who don’t follow his rules. He has dismissed six from his team in his year and a half on the job. It’s important for players to know they’ll pay for breaking rules, coaches said, and coaches have to act firmly and consistently or they’ll lose credibility with their players.
