HobbsDailyReport.com
WACO, Tex. – Drew Cronic’s first season as head football coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University caught the eye of his coaching colleagues.
CRONIC
On Tuesday, Cronic was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Regional Coach of the Year after LRU won three games in 2017 and 12 this season, the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division II.
“It’s great that our program is getting noticed,” Cronic said in an AFCA press release. “It’s a program award.
“It means that people are taking notice of the hard work our coaching staff and our kids have put in.
“Head coaches win awards because of outstanding players and outstanding assistant coaches.”
Cronic, who left the Furman coaching staff to become head coach at LRU, guided the Bears to the Super Region Two finals for the second time in school history. LRU won 12 straight games during that run.
South Atlantic Conference (SAC) head coaches picked LRU to finish sixth in the league in their preseason poll, but the Bears went 7-0 in the league and won a conference championship.
LRU was ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II on Oct. 22, moved up one spot the following week and, after the playoffs, finished at No. 8 in the national NCAA Division II rankings.
Cronic’s offense produced record-breaking numbers in his inaugural season with quarterback Grayson Willingham’s 26 touchdowns shattering the previous single-season record of 18, and Willingham’s 2,281 yards rank second-most in team history.
The Bears’ 2,570 team passing yards and 30 team passing touchdowns are new records, along with 574 points scored.
LRU had 13 players win award under Cronic, highlighted by National Special Teams Player of the Week honor (Kyle Dugger), Sherrod Williams winning three SAC Defensive Player of the Week awards and Jason Poe winning the SAC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy.
The Bears had a team cumulative GPA of 3.0 with Ronnie Clifton earning a first-team Academic All-American award.
Cronic has won an AFCA regional award three times in his career. He’s previously won two while coaching at Reinhardt.