Bears’ new boss has been around> Sheep farmer on Cronin’s resume

ORONO – Greg Cronin holds degrees in history and American studies from Colby College and a masters in business from the University of Maine.

He once decided he needed to develop his “people skills” so he took $500 in cash and a backpack full of clothes and left his native Arlington, Mass., to tour the world. His tour included stops in Hawaii, Auckland, New Zealand, and Australia.

His tour included a stint as a sheep farmer on a 14,000-acre ranch in New Zealand because he needed money for a car. Prior to that, the closest he had ever come to a horse was to pat the ones ridden by Boston policemen.

Greg Cronin will bring a diversified background to the coaching reins at the University of Maine. The Black Bear assistant will be the interim head coach for a year beginning Sunday when Maine coach Shawn Walsh begins serving his one-year suspension imposed by the school in the wake of an 18-month self-examination.

The 32-year-old Cronin describes himself as a “player’s coach” and admits he is nervous about the upcoming challenge.

“Anybody who says they wouldn’t be nervous in this situation is full of it,” said Cronin, who is married to the former Carol Morneault of Van Buren. “But I feel I’m competitive enough and intelligent enough to embrace the challenge.”

Cronin, the second of Don and Mary Cronins’ three children, said he models his coaching style after Walsh and Maine assistant Grant Standbrook.

“They have different personalities. I wish I had the organizational and management skills of Shawn. And Grant has so much knowledge about the game and such inherent objectivity in evaluating various situations,” observed Cronin.

Cronin was a former hard-nosed winger at Colby where he played with his older brother Don for three years. His coaching career spans one year as an assistant at Colby; two as an assistant at Maine; three at Colorado College and his second stint at Maine. He was an interim co-head coach at Colorado for seven games when head coach Brad Buetow was suspended in 1992.

This is his third season at Maine.

“Greg is very analytical and even-tempered,” said Walsh. “He is a player-conscious guy and a problem solving-conscious guy. And that’s what you want. We think alike.”

“I have confidence in Greg’s ability,” said Suzanne Tyler, Maine’s new athletic director, on Friday.

“He’s more of a player’s coach,” said senior center Brad Purdie. “He’s more than capable of doing the job. He knows the game inside and out and he knows what has to be said.”

Several players indicated Cronin has a better relationship with them than Walsh, probably because he is an assistant, and that he allows them to have more fun. But they also indicated that Cronin can be intense when necessary.

“Coach Cronin can motivate us. He’s more of a rah-rah type,” said junior right wing Brad Mahoney.

The players also said having Standbrook around for the next six months, as a result of his off-campus recruiting suspension, will be extremely beneficial.

“Grant will help everybody’s individual skills,” said Mahoney. “He really knows so many little things and, with one sentence, he can change your whole style of play.”