Thornton Academy’s Austin McCrum celebrates with the Gold Ball after leading the Golden Trojans to the 2015 state title. PAT McDONALD/Journal Tribune File Photo
Former Thornton Academy signal caller Austin McCrum has left Division I Lafayette College and is transferring to Division III Bowdoin College in Brunswick.
McCrum, who led TA to back-to-back state titles in 2014 and 2015, decided to leave Lafayette after a coaching change following his freshman season hurt his chances of getting a real opportunity to play.
“After last season started with the whole new coaching staff I kind of saw the writing on the wall as far as getting playing time there,” said McCrum, who was at Lafayette for two seasons. “I just wasn’t really happy about the situation and football was kind of dragging me down, so I was just switching it up and had another opportunity to look into. I had full support from my parents so I kind of took the opportunity when I had it.”
When a college football program changes coaching staffs it’s always a difficult time for the players who were recruited by the previous regime — and that was no different for McCrum.
“After my freshman year they cleaned house and brought in new coaches. We already had four quarterbacks on the roster and our new coach brought in four of his own guys, so we had eight quarterbacks on the roster for my sophomore season,” McCrum said. “I stayed on the team all the way up until after the season and then I really started to look at other options.”
The former TA standout had plenty of options when he decided to transfer, including interest from schools at the Division I-AA (or Football Championship Subdivision) level.
“I was looking at some D1 schools like Davidson and Holy Cross, but I would have to sit out a year. If you transfer to (the same level) or up (to a higher level) you have to sit out a year, but if you transfer down you don’t have to sit out,” said McCrum. “That was a big decision between the high-level academic (Division III schools) and the D1 (schools) I was talking to. It just made more sense for me to come back home.”
McCrum would look at other schools in Maine — including possibly playing for legendary coach Jack Cosgrove at Colby — but in the end Bowdoin was the right fit.
“Academics, obviously, is what attracted me in the first place,” said McCrum on why he decided to head to Bowdoin. “Then the location with being home in Maine was great. I like the area in Brunswick more so than any of the other NESCAC (schools) up in Maine.”
McCrum believes he will have a chance to step in and immediately help the Polar Bears, who haven’t won a game since 2015.
“They have been struggling for a couple years so I felt like I could go in there and make a difference and do some good stuff there,” said McCrum.
McCrum believes the Bowdoin coaching staff has a plan in place to turn things around.
“Coach JB Wells, he’s been at Bowdoin I think this is his third season coming up, he’s had a tough start there but I think he’s a real good coach and knows what he’s doing,” McCrum said. “He came from Endicott and was real successful there. I feel like talking to him, you know, we built a real good relationship pretty quick and he was really helpful throughout everything.”
McCrum was also grateful that coach Wells and Bowdoin has allowed him to take a semester off while he helps out at the family business in Saco.
“My dad actually started a new company that required a lot of manual labor and he had a knee surgery, almost like a knee replacement, and he was going to be off his feet. I talked to Bowdoin and they allowed me to take this semester off to stay home and help my dad and get that company up and running for him. It was great to be able to help him out and Bowdoin really accommodated for that,” said McCrum.
McCrum, who has three years of eligibility left, knows he will have to fight for a starting job in camp this summer.
“They said it would definitely be competitive,” said McCrum, who threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in his senior season at TA. “They couldn’t promise me any playing time or anything because that wouldn’t be fair or respectful to the other quarterbacks there and they have some great guys up there already. But they said I would definitely get a shot to jump in the mix and earn my keep.”
The former Lafayette QB believes his time at the Division I level will help him as he transitions to the D3 game.
“The speed of the game was ridiculous, especially coming from Maine high school football and going straight to that level. It took a while to get adjusted speed-wise, but I mean, with coach (John Garrett) coming in (to Lafayette) he brought in an NFL playbook so just to be able to digest that and really talk football and understand the game a lot better,” said McCrum on what he learned at Lafayette. “When you have your windows, when you don’t, what your reads should be and understanding defense … just the overall knowledge of the game that I learned at that level I think will help me quite a bit coming back down to this level.”
The Thornton Academy graduate is excited to compete for the starting job with the Polar Bears, but he is also looking forward to once again playing in front of his friends and family on a regular basis.
“It’s going to be great. I already have people telling me they’re going to come up to visit. People telling me they’re going to come up and watch games,” said McCrum. “I have a lot of good support from my friends and family and local people around here. I think it will be cool coming back to Maine.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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