MACON, Ga. – Drew Cronic, previously the head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University, has been named Mercer University’s 20th head football coach, Athletics Director Jim Cole announced Tuesday evening.

A native of Sharpsburg, Ga., Cronic is considered one of the more innovative offensive minds across all levels of college football. Driven by the motto “Raise the Bar”, he has posted a 47-6 record in four years as a head coach and has been named the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year all four seasons. He has also helped lead his teams to four straight conference titles – Reinhardt (2016), Furman (2017) and Lenoir-Rhyne (2018, 2019).

“First and foremost, I want to thank Bear Nation and everyone involved in this process for their patience and understanding these last two weeks,” Director of Athletics Jim Cole said. “A special thanks to Sybil Blalock for taking a large role in this process. We could not have done it without her.  We had the opportunity to interview and vet some tremendous candidates. In that process, one candidate’s passion, intensity and desire to win was evident from the start.

“Coach Drew Cronic brought that to the table. I cannot wait to see Drew implement his system and winning culture at Five Star Stadium. We’re so happy for Drew, his wife, Amelia, and his three sons – Noah, Elijah and Isaiah – to be joining our Mercer Family.”