Drew Cronic is in his third year at Navy as the offensive coordinator.
In his second year calling plays, Navy had one of the best seasons in school history finishing with an 11-2 record and ranked 23rd in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. It is only the fourth time since 1963 that Navy has ended the season ranked in the AP poll and the first time since 2019.
Navy finished strong in 2025 with a 35-13 win over Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. It was Navy’s fourth-consecutive bowl win, all against Autonomy 4 teams (Virginia, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Cincinnati).
Navy has produced back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in school history. The 11 wins this year tied the school record (Navy also won 11 games in 2015 and 2019).
Navy’s 21 wins over the last 2 years are the most wins in school history over a two-year span, while Navy’s 21-5 record (.808) over the last two years is the eighth-best winning percentage in the FBS and the best among the Non-Autonomy 4.
Navy defeated Army 17-16 to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States. Navy has won the CIC Trophy in back-to-back years and has won it 13 times in the last 23 years.
Navy was also named the winner of the Lambert Trophy, which is awarded to the best team in the East. It is the first time since 2015 and just the second time since 1963 the Mids have won the Lambert Trophy.
Navy finished in a three-way tie for the American Conference regular-season title with North Texas and Tulane, but did not play in the championship game due to Tulane being ranked in the CFP and North Texas beating Navy head-to-head.
Navy defeated #24 USF on Senior Day in Annapolis 41-38. It was Navy’s third win over a ranked opponent in the last two years. Last year, Navy defeated #19 / #22 Army (31-13) and RV / #22 Memphis (56-44).
It is the first time Navy has beaten three ranked opponents over a two-year span since 1957-58 when the Mids beat #5 / #5 Notre Dame (20-6) and #10 / #9 Army (14-0) in 1957 and #8 / #7 Rice (20-7) and #14 / #12 Michigan (20-14) in 1958.
Navy finished 6-0 at home in 2025. It is just the sixth time in school history Navy has gone undefeated at home in years it has played 5 or more home games.
The Mids led the FBS in rushing in 2025, averaging 285.6 yards per game. Navy’s 41 rushing touchdowns tied with Utah for the 2nd most in the FBS behind North Texas (49).
Navy finished second in the FBS in rushing yards per carry, averaging 5.76 yards per carry.
Navy finished second in the country in passing yards per completion, averaging 15.9 yards per catch.
Navy finished third in the nation with 10 offensive plays go for 60 yards or more.
Navy gave up 3.1 tackles for loss per game, which was the fewest in the country.
The Mids finished tied for third in the country for fewest sacks allowed (nine). Navy’s offensive line was on the Midseason Watch List for the Joe Moore Award, which is given to the nation’s best offensive line.
Quarterback Blake Horvath was informed on Nov. 21 by the Heisman Trophy Trust that he was a potential Heisman Trophy finalist. Horvath was also named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year award and the Davey O’Brien Quarterback of the Year.
Horvath was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year and was named a First-Team Academic All-American and the Div. I Football Team Member of the Year by the College Sports Communicators. He is the 13th Navy football player to be named a First-Team Academic All-American and the 1st Navy player to be named the overall football scholar-athlete of the year, an award that has been handed out since 1987.
Horvath was named the winner of the Maxwell Club’s inaugural Military Service Academy Leadership Award, established to honor a player from one of the United States Military Service Academies who exemplifies exceptional leadership both on the football field and within their academy community.
Horvath was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the Academic Heisman. The 16 finalists each received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Horvath carries a 3.69 grade-point average and earned a perfect 4.0 in both semesters of his junior year. He is the 11th Navy player to be named a finalist and the 1st since Cameron Kinley in 2020.
Horvath is the first Navy quarterback to have 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in back-to-back seasons. He is the first player to do it in the FBS since both Lamar Jackson (Louisville) and Quinton Flowers (USF) did it in 2016 and ‘17.
Horvath is the first quarterback in the FBS to rush for 1,200 yards and pass for 1,200 yards in consecutive seasons since Lamar Jackson did it at Louisville in 2015-16. Since 1956, Horvath is one of just five quarterbacks to go 1,200-1,200 in consecutive seasons (Horvath, Jackson, Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois, Pat White of West Virginia and Brad Smith of Missouri).
Horvath’s 162.5 career pass efficiency rating is the highest of any quarterback in Service Academy history with 150 or more attempts. Dating back to 1956, he is one of just 45 quarterbacks in the FBS to have a career passing efficiency of 162.0 or better with 275 or more passing attempts. Horvath is tied for 41st on that list, just behind Jalen Hurts in 40th.
Horvath’s average of 7.6 yards of total offense per play (5,646 yds on 747 plays) over his career is the third-best mark in school history.
Horvath averaged 16.5 yards per completion in his career (183 comp / 3,017 yds), which is the 4th-best average in school history. The record is 18.8 set by Ricky Dobbs (2008-10).
Horvath’s .588 career completion percentage is second only to Roger Staubach (.631) on the Navy career list.
Horvath threw just 10 interceptions in 311-career attempts for an interception percentage of .032 per attempt. That is the third-best mark in school history. The Navy record is .017 set by Keenan Reynolds, who threw just 8 interceptions in 462-career attempts.
Horvath’s 27-career passing touchdowns are the third most in school history. His 5,646 yards of career total offense ranks fifth all-time at Navy.
Horvath was responsible for 360 points in his career, the fourth most in school history. Keenan Reynods is first with 528.
Horvath’s 469 yards of total offense (130 yds rush, 339 yds pass) in Navy’s win against Air Force broke the school record. The previous record was 428 yards set by Will Worth in a loss at USF in 2016. Horvath is the first quarterback in the FBS to throw for 330 yards or more with three or more touchdowns and rush for 130 or more yards with one or more touchdowns in a game since LSU’s Jayden Daniels against Florida in 2023. It’s only been done 17 times in the last 30 years.
Horvath and Malcolm Perry (2016-19) are the only players in school history to have multiple runs of 90 yards or more in a career.
Horvath’s 16 rushing touchdowns in 2025 tied for the third most for a quarterback in the FBS.
Horvath averaged 100.0 rushing yards per game in 2025, which ranked first among quarterbacks and 13th overall in the FBS. He rushed for over 100 yards in six-straight games in 2025, which tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history.
Horvath averaged 16.3 yards per completion in 2025, the fourth-best average in school history. It would have led the FBS if he had enough attempts to qualify.
Horvath’s 2,780 yards of total offense in 2025 are the second most in school history. His .606 completion percentage in 2025 is the fourth-best mark in school history.
Horvath’s 1,580 passing yards in 2025 are the fourth most in school history. He averaged 9.9 yards per pass attempt in 2025, which tied for the fifth-best mark in school history.
Horvath’s 12 touchdown passes in 2025 are tied for the third most in school history. He threw 13 in 2024, which is tied for the most in school history.
Dating back to 1956, Horvath is 1 of just 25 players in the FBS to rush for 1,200 or more yards and throw for 1,500 or more yards in a single season and the first to do it at Navy.
Snipe Eli Heidenreich was invited to the East-West Shrine Game. He is the 35th Navy football player to be selected and the 1st since linebacker Diego Fagot in 2021, who earned defensive MVP honors. Heidenreich was Navy’s first offensive player to be selected since Malcolm Perry in 2019 and the first non-quarterback since wide receiver Brandon Turner in 2012.
Heidenreich is just the second player in the FBS since 1956 to rush for 475 yards or more and have 925 yards receiving or more in the same season. The only other player to do that is Tavon Austin of West Virginia in 2012 (643 rush, 1,289 rec).
Heidenreich’s 16-career receiving touchdowns are the most in school history. His six touchdown catches in each of the last two seasons tied the single-season school record.
Heidenreich’s 1,994-career receiving yards are the most in school history. His 941 receiving yards in 2025 are the most in school history.
Heidenreich 51 catches in 2025 are tied for the fifth-most catches in a single-season in school history.
Heidenreich’s 109 career catches are the second-most in school history.
Heidenreich had a career-high eight catches for a school-record 243 yards and a school-record tying three touchdown catches in Navy’s win over Air Force. He is the first Navy player in school history to surpass 200 yards receiving in a game. The previous record was 194 yards by Cory Schemm in the 1996 Aloha Bowl against Cal.
Heidenreich was graded as the second-best running back in the FBS with a grade of 92.9 by Pro Football Focus and his receiving grade of 94.5 was the best of any running back or wide receiver.
Fullback Alex Tecza was ranked as the ninth-best receiver in the backfield by PFF with a grade of 80.4.
Malcolm Johnson became the first freshman to start on the offensive line at Navy against FAU since Duncan Cave started at center against SMU in 1997. Johnson was named the ECAC Rookie of the Year.
Braxton Woodson’s 180 yards rushing on seven carries against VMI are the most yards rushing on seven carries or less in an FBS game since LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 188 yards on six carries against Arkansas on Nov. 23, 2019, in a 56-20 LSU win.
In his first year of calling the plays at Navy, Cronic helped lead the Mids to a 10-3 record, wins over Air Force and Army to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy and a victory over Oklahoma to win the Armed Forces Bowl. The 10 wins marked just the sixth time in school history Navy has won 10 or more games in a season.
The win over Oklahoma in the Armed Forces Bowl was the first time Navy has defeated a team from the SEC in a bowl game since 1954 (1955 Sugar Bowl) when the Mids beat Ole Miss 21-0. It was the first win against an SEC team overall since Navy defeated Vanderbilt in 2004.
Navy finished the regular season with a complete domination of Service Academy rival #19 Army, knocking off the Black Knights 31-13 in the 125th playing of the Army-Navy Game presented by USAA. With wins over Air Force and Army, the Mids won the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which is presented annually to the winner of the football competition among the 3 major service academies (Navy, Air Force and Army) and is named in honor of the President of the United States.
Navy won the two Service Academy games in 2024 by a combined 45 points, which ties the 2019 Navy team for the biggest combined CIC blowouts by any of the three Service Academies since 2007 when Navy beat Air Force and Army by a combined 46 points.
Navy’s win over Army gave Navy victories over two ranked opponents for the first time since 1958, when the Mids defeated #8 / #7 Rice 20-7 and #14 / #12 Michigan 20-14. Navy defeated #24 (Coaches) Memphis 56-44 on Sept. 21, 2024.
Navy was predicted to finish 11th in the 2024 American Athletic Conference preseason poll and ended the year tied for third with Memphis (Navy beat Memphis head-to-head) with a 6-2 mark.
The Navy offense scored 407 points in its 13 games in 2024, which was a whopping 195 more than it scored in its 12 games in 2023.
Navy averaged 247.5 rushing yards per game in 2024, the sixth-best average in the FBS and the program’s best since 2019.
The Mids finished 37 of 42 (.881) in the red zone with 34 (.810) of those scores resulting in touchdowns. Navy finished #1 in the country in red zone touchdown percentage.
Eli Heidenreich’s six touchdown receptions tied for Navy’s single-season touchdown catches record. Heidenreich closed out the year being named a Third-Team All-American by College Football Network.
Blake Horvath threw a school-record tying 13 touchdown passes in 2024. Horvath accounted for four touchdowns in Navy’s 31-13 victory over Army, rushing for 196 yards and two TDs on 24 carries, while throwing for 107 yards and two TDs. He scored the game-tying touchdown against Oklahoma on a school-record 95-yard touchdown run and then gave Navy the lead on a six-yard scoring run with 4:34 remaining.
Horvath, with 1,246 yards rushing, is the first Navy player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2019 when Malcolm Perry rushed for 2,017 yards. He is the first Navy quarterback to surpass 1,000 passing yards in a season since 2019 when Malcolm Perry threw for 1,084 yards.
Horvath’s 1,353 passing yards are the most by a Navy player since Will Worth threw for 1,397 yards in 2016. Additionally, he is the 3rd quarterback in school history to rush AND pass for more than 1,200 yards in the same season, joining Keenan Reynolds in 2015 (1,203 pass, 1,373 rush) and Chris McCoy in 1997 (1,203 pass, 1,370 rush).
Cronic came to Navy from Mercer, where he put together a 28-17 (.622) record over the last four years, including a 22-10 (.688) mark in the rugged Southern Conference.
A native of Sharpsburg, Georgia, Cronic is considered one of the more innovative offensive minds across all levels of college football. Driven by the motto “Raise the Bar,” Cronic has been a head coach for a combined eight years at three different schools and has compiled a career record of 75-23 (.765) while also handling offensive coordinator duties that featured variations of the option offense.
Cronic led Mercer to an historic 9-4 record in 2023, including a 6-2 mark in the Southern Conference. The nine wins are the most against Division I opponents in the 50-year history of the program, while the team earned an FCS playoff berth for the first time in school history. The 6-2 conference mark tied Cronic’s 2021 team for the most Southern Conference wins in school history.
The Bears 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 finished the year ranked No. 20 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, one of three Southern Conference teams that were ranked in the final poll.
In 2022, Mercer (7-4, 5-3 SoCon) reached its highest AFCA FCS Coaches Poll ranking in school history at No. 11 thanks to its most explosive and potent offense in program history, as the Bears averaged 38.2 points per game.
In 2021, Mercer finished 7-3 and 6-2 in the conference, losing to East Tennessee State 38-35 in the final regular-season game of the year that determined the Southern Conference champion. Mercer finished the season ranked No. 21 in the STATS Perform Poll while averaging 31.7 points per game.
Cronic’s first season at Mercer was supposed to be in the fall of 2020, but was pushed to the spring of 2021 due to COVID. Cronic led the Bears to their best Southern Conference season since joining the conference with five league wins, including three over ranked foes. Cronic’s squad defeated No. 9 Chattanooga (35-28), No. 17 Furman (26-14) and No. 20 East Tennessee State (21-13) over three-consecutive weeks.
Cronic engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in college football at Lenoir-Rhyne, 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, as he led the Bears to the sixth-best turnaround in Division II history and past the first round of the Division II playoffs for just the second time in school history.
Cronic was the offensive coordinator at Furman in 2017, as his offense led the Paladins to the second round of the FCS playoffs, averaging 34 points per game.
Before his stint at Furman, Cronic coached at Reinhardt from 2012-16 and was instrumental in the startup of the program. For the first-three seasons, Cronic served as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator for the Eagles before being named the head coach prior to the 2015 campaign.
Cronic directed Reinhardt to a nine-win season in 2015 before a record-breaking year in 2016, as the Eagles went 13-1, won the Mid-South Conference Championship and advanced to the NAIA National Quarterfinals. Reinhardt averaged 51.1 points per contest and totaled 550.6 yards of offense per game, ranking first in the nation in both categories.
The Eagles led the nation in rushing offense (360.0 ypg) and rushing touchdowns (71), while having the nation’s second-highest passing efficiency (178.0) to go along with 25 touchdown passes.
Cronic was twice named the Mid-South Conference West Division Coach of the Year and the AFCA NAIA Region I Coach of the Year.
Cronic’s first stint at Furman lasted nine years (2002-10) as he served in several coaching roles including wide receivers, running backs, tight ends and recruiting coordinator. During his time there, the Paladins won a Southern Conference title in 2004 and put together an 11-3 season in 2005, which ended with a trip to the national semifinals.
In 1999, Cronic began his coaching career after graduate school at James Madison where he served three seasons as receivers coach and assistant recruiting coordinator. The Dukes won the Atlantic 10 Championship in his first year and earned a bid to the FCS Playoffs.
Cronic played quarterback for his father, Danny Cronic, at East Coweta High School before playing collegiately at Georgia. As a Bulldog, Cronic played wide receiver and was a member of the special teams, lettering twice and participating in the 1995 Peach Bowl and 1997 Outback Bowl.
Cronic received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from the University of Georgia in 1998 before earning his master’s degree in educational leadership in 1999 from the University of West Georgia.
Cronic and his wife, Amelia, have three sons, Noah, Elijah and Isaiah. Elijah is a sophomoore at the Naval Academy and a member of the football team.
