Coy Cronk stepped up and led as an upperclassman in high school, he’ll do the same for IU

Jordan Guskey | IndyStar

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Season opener: IU at Florida International, 7 p.m. Saturday, CBS Sports Network

BLOOMINGTON — Coy Cronk was not unlike this year’s crop of freshmen when he arrived on campus two years ago for IU football.

Wide-eyed. Trying to figure out up from down. Surviving. And then coaches slotted him to start at left tackle? It’s no wonder he fell in line and wasn’t the vocal leader he was at Lafayette Central Catholic High. But now he’s an upperclassman. Now he has 25 starts logged and a bowl-game appearance. Now he’s stepping up to lead, again.

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“This is where I’m from,” Cronk told IndyStar after Thursday’s practice. “I’m from Indiana. This is my place, this is the place that wanted me. This is my home. I take a lot of pride putting on that jersey and getting to play in front of my parents and my friends and all sorts of people I grew up with.”

IU offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said it best after a recent practice, describing Cronk as the embodiment of leadership not being determined by class rank. Players respect Cronk because of his toughness, grit and who he is, not because of the year next to his name on the roster. A player either leads or doesn’t, and Cronk has never felt the need to see senior next to his name to command respect.

Back in high school, when he played for Kevin O’Shea, Cronk and now-Purdue Boilermaker Jackson Anthrop became captains as juniors. O’Shea, in roughly 25 years coaching to that point, had never led a team with junior captains.

But they earned it.

“(Cronk)’s one of those guys that when the team’s not playing up to the expectations of the coach, the coach didn’t really have to say anything — Coy did,” O’Shea said. “Coy was a guy where I didn’t have to make a pregame speech before a game. Coy handled that part of it, and as a coach you like the players to handle it.”

He was playing well, too, and the fact there were only a handful of seniors above Cronk and Anthrop that year further emboldened Cronk to step up. He was never afraid to “kick a little tail,” as O’Shea put it.

During those passionate pregame speeches Cronk wanted his teammates to understand they needed to be physical, play through the whistle and pick up their teammates when they have a bad play. Of course, some colorful language helped hammer home each point.

“I’m still trying to carry that on (at IU),” Cronk said. “I think if you go out there and shortchange yourself, it doesn’t only affect you. I think it affects the whole team and I think that affects wins and losses.”

If he sees someone taking a play off, he’ll let them know. Playing fast with maximum effort may lead to mistakes, which Cronk is no stranger to, but there’s no other way he knows to play. His freshman year earned him recognition as a 247Sports true freshman All-American.

Often during camp this fall Cronk took time after practice to analyze film with younger players to explain what the team wants to accomplish on certain plays, what that player may be doing wrong and how to execute it the right way next time.

Sure, there are times coaches have to reign in Cronk.

At Thursday’s practice, the first in IU’s preparation for the season opener at Florida International, Cronk and a younger Hoosier on the scout team had a “scuffle,” as offensive line coach Darren Hiller put it. But it's not something those two players can't work through, and merely the byproduct of Cronk's passion.

And just like with Anthrop at Central Catholic, he has another player his leadership style fits well with in redshirt senior offensive guard Wes Martin.

“(Cronk)’s a little bit on the edge sometimes, so it’s awesome to have him because you have different kinds of styles with everybody,” Hiller said. “You’ve got Wes Martin, who is probably just naturally the undisputed leader of the group, but he’s a more quiet guy. So, to me, if guys are working and doing their job and producing, I think guys are going to follow those guys.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at jguskey@gannett.com.