Campus: Why did you decide to be a fitness coach?

Craft: I got my start in conditioning from my high school strength and conditioning coach who was also our head football coach, and I really feel like it helped my physical development, and gave me something I enjoy and improve my quality of life. That’s what made me want to be a coach.

Campus: What is your favorite part of coaching?

Craft: Seeing someone walk in as raw materials and walk out a well-formed adult. That’s really what we’re making. We’re making young men and young women pillars of the community and we’re teaching them good moral character. We’re teaching them discipline and time management. We’re teaching them how to push themselves beyond their limits and what they think is physically possible.

Campus: What are you looking forward to at Allegheny?

Craft: I’m looking forward to watching these athletes progress and grow, not just as athletes, but also as men and women. That’s probably one of the most rewarding things, when you have an athlete, two or three years after you coached them, come to you and say, ‘Coach, you were tough on me, but you taught me these things that I need to know.’ And that’s what I’m looking forward to—to all of the athletes here succeeding.

Campus: Why did you choose to come to Allegheny?

Craft: The position at Allegheny was very unique and I knew it would be a lot of building and a lot of work, and there would be a lot of unique situations because it is both the strength and conditioning and the fitness center. I like that I get to build the program from the ground up and really help that solid foundation based on self-discipline, time management, and pushing their limits for the athletes here and also for the students here.

Campus: What do you think are the benefits of DIII athletics?

Craft: I think one of the benefits is that you’re allowed to have more fun with the athletes. Being in DI and DII, they’re very win-oriented. Being in DIII, it’s not always about the win—it’s about the entire athlete, the entire person. I don’t have to let somebody’s well-being take a back seat to winning. The student’s well being is my priority, the coach’s priority, and everybody here is looking out for that. Rather than the athlete working for me, I work for the athlete.