Mercer meets Cronic, Cronic meets Mercer, in first public appearance (with video of public conference)

          Drew Cronic was named head coach at Mercer on Dec. 10.

          The first signing day was eight days away, and he had to dive into recruiting as well as start hiring a staff. The Bears signed some players, and Cronic is slowly getting company around the office.

          Friday was his first chance to slow down long enough to spend a chunk of time at Hawkins Arena being publicly welcomed in a gather of fans, players, staff, and media.

          Cronic introduced his wife and children, mother, nephew, father and stepmother. His dad Danny was a highly successful coach at East Coweta, and was Reinhardt’s first head coach, with Drew on the staff.

          “My dad was my coach growing up,” Cronic said. “A lot of things that we do are some of the things he did. It worked pretty good then, and hopefully it’ll continue to work for us.

          “He was my coach, and that’s who I wanted to be like growing up.”

          Cronic’s first head coaching job was succeeding his dad at Reinhardt. He was on the staff when Reinhardt was Mercer’s first opponent on reinstatement of the game.

          “The thing I remember about that is I remember this opening game in 2013, when there were probably 12,000 people at the game. That always made an impression on me.”

          And he filed it away.

          He thanked his predecessor, who used to be his boss. Cronic praised Lamb for starting the program and laying a foundation he hopes to build on.

          The Bears played in close games throughout Lamb’s tenure, but fewer in 2019 en route to a 4-8 record.

          “This is my home state,” said Cronic, vowing to own the state in recruiting and graduate every player. “This is coming back home for me.”

          The press conference video is here or here. Conference begins four minutes in, with Cronic taking the mic at 15:50.

          Cronic has added more to the staff this week, joining defensive coordinator Joel Taylor and co-offensive coordinator Tim Foster.

          Jimmy Long is the defensive line coach and run-game coordinator. David A. Cole is associate head coach, special teams coach, and cornerbacks coach. La’Donte Harris will head offensive recruiting and coaching receivers, and Mike Adams is the pass game coordinator and safeties coach.

          Long and Cole were on Cronic’s staff at Lenoir-Rhyne. Harris and Adams are being retained from Bobby Lamb’s staff.