Miami ? Sylvester Croom often talks about how someday — 20 or 30 years from now — he will be a question to an answer on “Jeopardy.”

But here’s a bit of trivia for Croom, who downplays the fact that he made history when he became the first black head football coach in the Southeastern Conference:

Who was the last coach at Mississippi State with a career winning record?

That was Darrell Royal, who had back-to-back 6-4 seasons in 1954 and ’55 before leaving and later becoming at legend at the University of Texas.

It has never been easy to win in Starkville. Croom, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, Ala., watching burning crosses and having spitballs hurled at him by white kids who thought racism was a way of life, knows just how significant his hiring is for the SEC, where they waited 70 years and went through 340 hirings before Croom shattered the color line.

He is one of only five black coaches of the 117 Division I-A schools, and now he has to win with a program that was left in shambles. MSU was 7-28 during the past three seasons and still is waiting for the NCAA to hand down sanctions on 13 recruiting violations that occurred under the watch of Jackie Sherrill, who not only left the cupboard bare, but the cops knocking at the door.

Still, Croom is winning them over without winning.

“We are going to patient, because we know he is the right man for the job,” said Jan Gwin, an investment adviser with Morgan Keegan who was a former player at Mississippi State in the 1970s and a past president of the Bulldog Club.

“I went to that first press conference when Croom was introduced,” Gwin said, “and there were a lot of people who went in there and they were on the fence … and by the time they left, they left firmly believing that we had the right guy.”

Mississippi State athletic director Larry Templeton, who hired Croom even after Croom initially balked at taking the job, said, “He has changed the perception of what people think of this state.”

Templeton said that after spending 15 minutes with Croom, he knew he had a “crown jewel.”

“We’re not surprised at where we are,” said Templeton of the team’s 1-5 record. “We knew it would be a difficult year… . Our fans are patient. They realize it’s going to take two or three years.”

Croom, 50, waited a lifetime to get the chance. Croom, one of the first black players at Alabama, was mentored by Bear Bryant and was an All-American center for the Crimson Tide. Croom was an assistant at Bama and had 28 years of experience as an assistant coach, including 17 in the NFL.

He was bitter when he was passed over in May 2003 when Alabama hired Mike Shula ahead of him. Now, he just wants the chance to win — in the future.

Croom has too many young players to win now, and he knows it. There are only 15 juniors and seniors. When he took the job, Croom was shocked at just how far the program had slipped.

“The talent here is what I expected,” he said at the time. “But I was very disappointed in the level of discipline. It surprises me a lot for a kid to take a scholarship to play college football and not go to class.”

They go now, or they don’t play. Croom made his point early last spring when he released the team’s top running back, Nick Turner, who kept breaking Croom’s rules.

A dozen players have left the program, but Croom believes he has to change things from the bottom to win later.

It’s not easy.

“When you’re competitive, losing is no fun,” said Croom, whose team beat Tulane in the season opener but has lost five in a row.

“But we are going to do things the right way. We’re not looking for a quick fix. We’re building a foundation. We’re trying to win games now, but how we do things now will establish things for a long time. We want to create an identity for ourselves.”