Drew Cronic will be the next offensive coordinator at Navy after resigning his position as head coach at Mercer, the Georgia university announced Tuesday night in a news release.
Cronic led Mercer to 28 wins over four seasons, including a 9-4 mark this past season that produced the program’s first berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
“Coach Cronic has made great contributions to the Mercer football program, as well as to Mercer University, over the last four seasons,” athletic director Jim Cole said in a news release. “We want to thank him for not only the impact he has made on Mercer, but the entire middle Georgia community. We wish him and his family the very best.”
Cronic would replace Grant Chesnut, who was fired last month after just one season at Navy.
Navy athletics spokesman Scott Strasemeier told The Capital that the department had no announcement at this time. Contacted Tuesday night, Navy’s senior associate athletic director for sports information said he was aware of the Mercer athletics news release.
Cronic compiled an overall record of 28-17 (.622) at Mercer, including a 22-10 mark in the rugged Southern Conference. Mercer’s nine wins in 2023 were the most against Division I opponents in the 50-year history of the program. The Bears were ranked No. 20 in the final American Football Coaches Association FCS poll.
Mercer defeated Gardner-Webb, 17-7, in the first round of the FCS playoffs before falling to eventual national champion South Dakota State in the second round.
Mercer earned the highest ranking in program history when it reached No. 11 in the FCS Coaches Poll in 2022. The Bears featured the most potent offense in program history that season, averaging 38.2 points per game.
In 2021, Mercer lost to East Tennessee State, 38-35, in the regular-season finale, which determined the Southern Conference champion. The Bears averaged 31.7 points per game that season.
Cronic’s first season at Mercer was supposed to be in the fall of 2020, but was pushed to the spring of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Cronic led the Bears to their best Southern Conference season since joining with five wins, including three over ranked opponents.
Cronic previously served as head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne and engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football, taking a team that went 3-8 the year before he got there to a 25-3 record over his two seasons at the helm (12-2 in 2018 and 13-1 in 2019).
Cronic was named the AFCA National Coach of the Year in 2018 after leading Lenoir-Rhyne to the sixth-best turnaround in Division II history and into the second round of the playoffs for just the second time in school history.
He was the offensive coordinator at Furman in 2017 and directed an attack that averaged 34 points per game. Before that, Cronic was instrumental in building a start-up program at Reinhardt from 2012 to 2016.
He served as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Reinhardt for three seasons before being promoted to head coach before the 2015 campaign.
Cronic directed a record-breaking season in 2016 as Reinhardt posted a 13-1 record, captured the Mid-South Conference Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA playoffs. The Eagles averaged 51.1 points per and 550.6 yards of total offense per game, ranking first nationally in both categories.
Cronic was twice named the Mid-South Conference West Division Coach of the Year and the AFCA NAIA Region I Coach of the Year while at Reinhardt. He spent nine years (2002-10) at Furman, coaching multiple positions on offense and serving as recruiting coordinator.
Cronic played quarterback for his father, Danny Cronic, at East Coweta High School before playing at Georgia. He was a wide receiver and member of multiple special teams units for the Bulldogs, lettering twice and participating in the 1995 Peach Bowl and 1997 Outback Bowl.
Cronic received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics education in 1998 before earning his master’s degree in educational leadership in 1999 from the University of West Georgia.
This story might be updated.