LRU’S 2018 SCHEDULE
August
30, at W. Alabama, 7 p.m.
September
8, at N. Greenville (S.C.), 7 p.m.
15, MARS HILL, 6 p.m.
22, at WINGATE, 6 p.m.
29, TUSCULUM, 6 p.m.
October
6, at NEWBERRY, S.C., 4 p.m.
13, LIMESTONE (Homecoming), 2 p.m.
20, at Fort Valley State (Ga.), 6 p.m.
27, UNC PEMBROKE, 2 p.m.
November
3, at CARSON-NEWMAN, 1 p.m.
10, CATAWBA (Senior Day), 2 p.m.
HobbsDailyReport.com
CRONIC
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Lenoir-Rhyne University head coach Drew Cronic, who is headed into his first season with the Bears, answered questions and gave his thoughts on the Bears on Friday during the South Atlantic Conference’s Football Digital Media Day.
LRU, coming off a 3-7 record, was picked by conference coaches to finish sixth this season in the SAC.
The Bears’ opener is Aug. 30 at West Alabama while Cronic’s home debut in Moretz Stadium comes Sept. 15 against Mars Hill.
TRANSCRIPT OF CRONIC’S INTERVIEW
SAC Office: Please welcome Lenoir-Rhyne head coach Drew Cronic. Coach Cronic, please tell us about how the Bears look this season.
CoachCronic_LR: First of all, our main job is to rebuild championship culture. A high percentage of our time has been spent on doing things right every day.
Our guys have done a great job buying into that. They have been held accountable academically and on the practice field and we are happy with their work.
Our first victory was getting a 3.05 team GPA.
About half of our guys are brand new and some of those guys will help us. I like the progress we’ve made but we have to keep working to make this team the best it can be.
We will be a little different. There’s going to be some elements of some wings and motion so it’ll be a little different than has been in this league before.
We want to be able to run the football and be efficient in the pass game. We want to have a physical style and get to the point where we can wear people down and use some tempo.
You have to have an identity and we feel like we have one and our kids have bought into that. There’s kids here that fit into what we want to do.
Comment From Nate Lar Bears: I read a lot about Warren Bell from Scotland County. He had an impressive season especially after Zamir a white was injured.
How do you see him impacting the offense as a true freshman?
CoachCronic_LR: Warren is a guy who we were very excited to sign. He played a lot of QB at Scotland and will play running back for us. He’s a bigger back and had a good summer with his weight room and conditioning stuff.
It’s always hard to project how a freshman is going to do but he’s a kid we are going to take a really strong look at to see if he can help us this fall.
Comment From Aaron: Last year the defense was quite young but seemed to progress nicely throughout the year. What can we expect from that unit this fall?
CoachCronic_LR: Coming out of spring, I felt like our defense was ahead of our offense. The first group was more experienced and a little older.
I expect us to play good defense and Coach Aldridge has done a good job guiding them. There’s going to be some young guys on the two deep.
I expect us to play good solid defense. We’re a little thin so we need to establish depth.
Comment From GO BEARS: Coach – what can you say about the LR Community and fan base since you arrived in Hickory and how can they help propel the team in the Fall?
CoachCronic_LR: They are tremendous. Everything about our leadership here from our President to Athletic Director has been about making us successful. Our alumni base really cares about this program and are extremely supportive.
I am really excited about playing a game here. I’ve heard so much about the game day atmosphere here.
I think people understand this is a process and people have high expectations but that’s what I want. No one has a higher expectation than me and we want to make this community proud of our program.
Comment From Aaron: What do you feel is the team’s biggest question mark still remaining as players begin to report?
CoachCronic_LR: Can we develop a finish mentality? Can we win close games in the fourth quarter and learning how to win and make plays when you just have to.
In this league, there’s a lot of good teams and not a lot of separation between the teams so it will be the ability to win close games.
It’s a young football team with just three seniors so can young guys grow up quickly and improve depth. We are going to have to be a team that gets better every week.
Comment From The ONE: Coach you recruited a lot of local talent from the county and surrounding areas, how much can fans expect to see from some of these young players if any this season?
SAC Office: We have time for just one more question for Coach Cronic.
Comment From Nate Lar Bears: Any chance we will see Kyle Duggar used on the offensive side of the ball? He is a great player/athlete/kick returner, good kid.
CoachCronic_LR: This was a good year for local talent. I think we are going to see some of those kids from a depth stand point and on special teams. You are going to see them as backups and fight for playing time.
I think it’s good to stir up local interest in the program. You are going to see those guys play in various roles.
SAC Office: Coach Cronic thank you for your time!
CoachCronic_LR: I would love to put him on the offensive side of the ball. Kyle is a really good football player and could help us on offense but he’s (a) defensive player. You will see him return kicks but you never know.