Nike Football Skills Development Camp Eastern University

Elon was among the national leaders in turnover margin as the Phoenix had nine interceptions and eight fumble recoveries. Elon held No. 22 Richmond to one first-half touchdown in a 20-7 victory and then allowed just 214 yards against a strong New Hampshire squad in a 24-10 win. No. 25 Rhode Island was held to only 44 rushing yards in the season finale, a 43-28 Elon victory that likely kept the Rams out of the FCS playoffs. In total, Crocker’s defense held four opponents to 155 passing yards or fewer.

He began his career coaching running backs at the University at Albany but spent most of his coaching career at Villanova University.

He began his Villanova career as a defensive line coach under Hall of Fame mentor Andy Talley. While he was in that role, the Wildcats won an FCS National Title in 2009. He gained promotion to special teams coordinator in 2001 and took over as defensive coordinator in 2012. In his four of his five seasons as defensive coordinator, the Wildcat defense ranked in the top two in the CAA and his 2016 defense gave up on ly 15 points per game and were ranked first in the FCS in total defense.

Before going to Elon, he spent two seasons as a defensive coordinator in the FBS at the University of Connecticut.

Crocker and his wife Kristi are thrilled to move their family back to the main line and are looking forward to the challenge of building a new program. They have three children -- a son Ryan and twins Will and Bryn.

The Mechanicsburg, Pa. native played his collegiate football at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where he started 22 straight games for the Marauders at defensive tackle, tallying 46 tackles, two interceptions, and two sacks.

Hinkle began his coaching career at his alma mater, serving in a variety of roles, including running backs coach, tight ends coach, and Head of Football Operations. Hinkle went on to serve as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at King’s College in the 2018 season, where he led the second-ranked rushing offense in the MAC.

At Widener, Hinkle coached eight All-MAC Conference players, one All-American, and one All-Region 1 player, while leading the No. 1 ranked offense in total offense, touchdowns scored, and sacks allowed in 2019.

Hinkle will join the Eastern staff immediately and will be actively involved in building Eastern’s recruiting network while also building the roster and coaching staff.

He comes to Eastern after serving on staff at Elon where he finished as the team's special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. Previously at Elon, Lucas served as the assistant defensive line coach in 2017 and 2018 before moving to outside linebackers ahead of 2019.

In his time with the Elon defensive line, the 2017 unit recorded 16.5 of the team’s 31 sacks as the Phoenix’s 2.58 sacks per game ranked 28th nationally. In 2018, Elon finished 38th nationally in total defense with 359.1 yards allowed per game. The defensive line also helped Elon finish 15th in the country with 2.91 sacks per game. Marcus Willoughby led the unit with 3.5 sacks on the year. He was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week after Elon's 30-9 win over New Hampshire with nine tackles - six solo - with 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks for a loss of 15 yards before going on to earn Third Team All-CAA Football honors after the season. Tristen Cox also finished fifth in the nation with three recovered fumbles for the season. After Lucas's move to outside linebackers, Willoughby went on to finish his career in maroon and gold as the program's FCS sack king with 16.5 in his career and he signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens in April 2020.

In the fall of 2021, the outside linebackers combined for 4.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, as well as two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception. In his first year leading the special teams, Elon ranked in the top 25 nationally in blocked punts and punt return defense. Kicker Skyler Davis earned CAA Football Special Teams Player of the Week honors and was one of the more consistent kickers in the conference, connecting on 17-of-22, including his last nine.

Before coming to Elon, Lucas spent one season as the linebackers coach at Moravian College in 2016. There, he coached one third-team All-South Region and All-Centennial Conference selection.

Lucas was a standout linebacker at fellow CAA Football member Villanova, where he was the 2011 CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year and a third-team all-conference pick under Elon head coach Tony Trisciani and defensive coordinator Billy Crocker. A finalist for the 2011 Jerry Rice Award, Lucas helped the Wildcats to a pair of FCS Playoff appearances.

Lucas graduated from Villanova with a degree in communications in 2015 and also earned his master's in educational leadership.

A native of Sussex, Del. Morris graduated from Alvernia with a degree in Elementary Education and Special Education.

He arrived at Eastern after serving in a variety of roles at FDU-Florham. In addition to serving as the the Recruiting Coordinator, he worked with safeties and special teams and also served as the team's strength and conditioning coordinator and was most recently offensive line coach.

Originally from New York, Scott was a three-year starter at St. Lawrence University. In his time in Canton, the Saints went 25-6 and amassed an 18-3 mark in Liberty League play. He played against Mount Union in the 2015 NCAA Playoffs.

After graduating with a BA in Government, he began his coaching career in Pennsylvania with a short stint at Susquehanna followed by a more extended stay at King's College. He began as an H-Back coach and then became the Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator. At King's, he worked with current Eastern Offensive Coordinator Nate Hinkle.

Scott had stints coaching offensive line at Methodist University in North Carolina and Maritime College in New York before returning to the MAC to work at FDU-Florham.