When Indiana senior left tackle Coy Cronk went down with a season-ending ankle injury against Connecticut in week four, the offensive line seemed to be in pieces, but Cronk has maintained a role as a player-coach within the Indiana offense as the Hoosiers make history.
If there was one player the Indiana football program could not lose this season, head coach Tom Allen said Monday, it was senior left tackle Coy Cronk. The senior had manned that position, guarding the blindsides of Peyton Ramsey and Richard Lagow, since the first snap of his true freshman season in 2016, and after the departures of former offensive linemen next to him, like Wes Martin and Dan Feeney, it was Cronk’s turn to lead the IU offensive line in 2019.
His opportunity lasted just three games, as he suffered a serious ankle injury against Connecticut in week four that ended his year. Now, as he rehabs his way through a four-to-five month recovery, Cronk has seen his role change immensely, but the offensive line’s production has remained stable. The Hoosier mainstay has had a hand in that steadiness.
“These are my guys out there,” Cronk said. “Instead of giving them four quarters, the biggest part of my day is trying to win the coin toss at away games.”
Cronk’s role has, obviously, expanded outside of merely joining his fellow captains at midfield to guess the coin toss, though his presence made an impact at Michigan State, when Nick Westbrook, Reakwon Jones and Simon Stepaniak carried Cronk’s jersey to the coin toss and the Hoosiers nearly knocked off the Spartans.
From the few days after Cronk’s injury took place until today, Allen has called the injured senior “Coach Cronk” and told him his new role is to help his team prepare for its next opponent each week.
Cronk’s arm didn’t need much twisting. After waiting the week for his swelling to decrease and eventually undergoing surgery, Cronk was on the practice field with his scooter helping the offensive line – namely true freshman left tackle Matt Bedford – prepare on a week-by-week basis.
“I know a lot of people, when they get hurt, they want to step away for a little bit.,” Cronk said. “They don’t really travel. That’s just never really been who I am. I’m part of this team. I was out on the scooter and couldn’t put any weight on it. It was frustrating at times, kind of humiliating.”
His new role has proven to be time-consuming in its own rite. Cronk said he is in every offensive line meeting for around an hour and a half every day, then he rehabs for 45-120 minutes depending on the day, then rehabs and lifts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Much of his rehab work has been centered on the up-and-down movements. He hasn’t graduated to side-to-side movements yet. After six weeks on his scooter, he progressed to crutches for about four days before moving up to what he called “the boot-only routine.” He hopes to be able to walk in water later this week, as well as receive an ankle brace that allows his foot to move up and down to facilitate driving.
“I’ve not been able to drive my truck, which I’m a really big fan of,” Cronk said. “That’s the second-worst part, behind not being able to play, is not being able to drive. Hopefully, Wednesday that brace comes in and my life can pretty much be back to normal.”
The only days he’s able to be on the practice field are Wednesdays and Fridays.
While the offensive line contains players like fifth-year seniors Simon Stepaniak and Hunter Littlejohn, Cronk had the most on-field experience coming into 2019. He represented Indiana at Big Ten Media Days in July, and he was included in the Outland Trophy Watch List and the Senior Bowl Watch List.
But he isn’t on the field blocking for the second-best offense in the Big Ten, which is something he said he’d “give anything” to do, versus being a player-coach and offering pointers to his teammates.
The Hoosiers have already earned bowl eligibility, the earliest since 1993, which has only happened once during his career, and Cronk said he believed the team that is playing on Saturdays in 2019 is “the most complete” team he’s been a part of in Bloomington.
“It’s hard not to wake up with a smile on my face every day,” Cronk said. “Been a part of three years of close losses, three losing seasons – two not going to a bowl game – it’s nice to be around the team and in the building, seeing people flying around.”
As Cronk watches all of this happen around him, he has a decision to make in the not-so-distant future. He could return to Indiana for another year, taking a medical redshirt for his senior year, or he could enter his name into the NFL Draft and move on.
While there is surely going to be some more evaluation before that decision is made, Cronk said he’s waiting to see how his ankle heals before making any type of decision. That timeline will likely stretch past the bowl game Indiana is destined to play in late-December or early-January.
For now, he’s content on helping the 2019 Hoosiers make some history during his career.
“If I could go and play and make money doing it, that’d be awesome, but if I have to come back here, it’s definitely a really good spot to be in as well,” Cronk said. “We have a 7-2 football team. It’s pretty good to be around here right now.”
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