[Tuck4Bama]

STARKVILLE — Sure, Tommy Tuberville has heard and read about the job status of Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom. But he certainly doesn't like what's been said and written.

"If Sylvester Croom is on the hot seat then we need to look around and check ourselves," Tuberville, the Auburn coach, said Tuesday at his weekly media conference. "Here's a guy that came in and took over a program that was dismantled, out of control, that needed some leadership in their football program, and bring some dignity and character back to it.

He has definitely done that."

Croom is 10-26 two games into his fourth season at State. He took over from Jackie Sherrill, who had a run of success in the 1990s but had three straight losing seasons to finish. Worse, the NCAA twice levied sanctions against the school for infractions that occurred under his watch.

Tuberville coached against Sherrill from 1995, when he took over at Ole Miss, until Sherrill's departure in 2003.

He told reporters in Auburn Tuesday that he wouldn't mind his sons playing for Croom.

"It's going to take him a while longer than three or four years," Tuberville said. "When you take over a program that was in the shape that one was in when he took it over, I'm sure he's got a 10-year plan in. A lot of people, sometimes, don't wait for 10 years. That's their fault."

NO ADJUSTMENTS