Thursday Night Special: VT at Maryland

This is a great Thursday night college football game.

Being neighbors, these two schools compete for the same recruits in the HS hotbed of northern Virginia and D.C. And the proximity of the schools promotes a natural rivalry with fans working inside the Beltway. And of course both schools play pretty solid football, with coaches who know each other well.

But how exactly does this concern State? It doesn't really. But it's interesting to note that Beamer and Friedgen traveled in similar coaching circles on their way to head positions as Coach Croom. All three coaches worked for Bobby Ross during their careers and Croom and Fridge were on the same staff at San Diego when the Chargers made it to the Super Bowl.

When Croom was hired, Bobby Ross said, "He's as good a coach as you could ask for on the field and in the classroom. He is a great communicator with coaches and with players. I've had some great coaches work for me like George O'Leary, Ralph Friedgen and Frank Beamer. I put Sylvester Croom in the same category as those guys."

In fact, the San Diego Chargers staff was pretty ridiculous when you consider their accomplishments and where they are now. Among Ross’ assistants were running backs coach Sylvester Croom (now the head coach at Mississippi State), secondary coach John Fox (head coach, Carolina Panthers), tight ends coach Ralph Friedgen (head coach, University of Maryland) and defensive line coach George O’Leary (head coach, University of Central Florida).

If Croom proves to be as successful as the other coaches on this list, then Mississippi State got a hell of a deal.