Mercer was one game away from winning the 1st SoCon championship in school history last season. The Bears were voted 3rd in the Preseason SoCon Media Poll after receiving one first place vote.
Head coach Drew Cronic spoke with Zach McKinnell of The Bluebloods at SoCon Media Day about managing expectations going into the season.
“You have to understand that this is not the ’21 football team… This is the ’22 football team and just because we got to a certain point last year and had a chance to win a championship doesn’t mean that it automatically happens. You have to start right at the bottom of the mountain again and get right back to where you were and then find a way to get it done. You have to earn the right to be good or you get beat and in this league where anybody can beat anybody you better show up every day and every week.”
Cronic also spoke about what makes this Mercer team different than previous seasons throughout spring and summer workouts:
“We finally got to have a true spring where we could focus on us and just fundamentals and just doing what we do by having a real offseason in the weight room. Hopefully we just continue to see progress because we’ve come a long way. We put ourselves in a position last fall to win a championship… We didn’t get it done so we have to continue to grow. Most important thing for me is culture… The way we do things every day, acting like a champion every day, and everything you are doing. We have that foundation laid and our kids know what they are doing… So hopefully you’ll just continue to see growth from our program.”
One of the top players returning for the Bears is All-SoCon defensive back Lance Wise and Cronic talked about his development going into the 2022 season:
“Lance has always had leadership characteristics. He’s an outgoing kid and a very well-spoken kid. The other players gravitate towards him. He had a great fall for us, but he missed some of spring and spring practices with a labrum injury. He’s past all that, but he had to lead in other ways and he did a really good job of just being on the field and talking to the young guys and being real supportive while continuing to rehab his shoulder. He’s got a lot of football under his belt now… There’s not a lot of things he has not seen. I expect him to have a big fall… I really do.”
Mercer opens the 2022 season against Morehead State on August 27th before traveling to face Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium in Week 2. You can catch our full interview with Mercer head coach Drew Cronic on YouTube and all podcast streaming platforms.
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