East Carolina Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, has announced his retirement following an impressive 40-year coaching career, including 35 years in college athletics and the last 19 with the Pirates.
“Curt Kraft and I met yesterday, and he informed me he was going to retire from coaching in mid-September,” said ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert. “Curt has dedicated nearly 20 years to ECU Athletics and the Pirates track program, and we are grateful for all his contributions. Curt will always be a Pirate. During his time with ECU, he has touched countless lives and influenced thousands of student-athletes. He is a friend and mentor to many in our department and community, and I know those relationships will continue. We wish him, his wife Nancy, and his family all the best as they enter the next chapter of their lives.”
After graduating from Minot State (N.D.) University in 1984 with a dual major in physical education and social science, Kraft started his coaching career with a five-year stint as head coach at Carrington High School. He then began his collegiate career as a graduate assistant at the University of Nebraska, where he earned a master’s degree in education.
From Nebraska, Kraft moved to the University of Nevada, where he would have a 14-year affiliation with the Wolf Pack. Starting as an assistant coach in 1991, he became head coach in 1994 and led the program to significant achievements.
With the Wolf Pack, Kraft won four conference championships and was named conference coach of the year three times, twice in the WAC and once in the Big West. His success also earned him the NCAA Division I Mountain Region Coach of the Year award in 2003.
“I knew that one day this would come,” Kraft said. “This is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. It was important to me to retire while I am still impactful and effective, and I am at peace with my choice knowing that I have made the decision for all the right reasons. I made this decision because of my wife of 40 years, my two children, and my grandchildren. It’s time to plan trips with them rather than the team, and it’s time for a new voice to lead the program I have loved for the last 19 years.”
In 2005, Kraft moved east to Greenville, where he became the Women’s Head Coach for East Carolina. After a brief period leading the women’s team, Kraft was promoted to head coach of the entire program following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Bill Carson in 2007.
“I want to thank Terry Holland and Rosie Thompson for hiring me 19 years ago and Jon Gilbert and Mike Hanley for being such a great support system for the program in recent years. I also want to thank all of the student-athletes and great coaches I have had over the last 40 years,” Kraft continued. “I wish I could name them all here, but I know that all of the success I have enjoyed is because of the great people who surround me. I have been blessed to do something I have a passion for and to do it for an entire career. When you do something you love and have passion for, it is hard to consider it a job. The number one thing I will miss the most is all of the relationships with the student-athletes and the assistant coaches. I have such a high regard for those relationships, which I have built over a 40-year career.”
Under Kraft’s leadership, the Pirates won three C-USA Championships on the women’s side (including an indoor-outdoor sweep in 2014), led 25 individuals and three relay teams to NCAA Championships berths, and helped his athletes achieve 81 conference event championships. His athletes set 45 indoor program records and 40 all-time outdoor marks.
Three times, Kraft was named league coach of the year (2012 Indoor, 2014 Indoor/Outdoor), and 22 times his athletes earned All-American honors, with 11 being First-Team recognitions. He also had numerous athletes qualify for national Olympic Team Trials, including Sydni McMillan and Melicia Mouzzon in 2024.
Originally from North Dakota, Kraft has been married to his wife Nancy for 40 years. They have two daughters, Alicia and Kayla, and two grandchildren. Alicia and her husband Alex have one daughter, Brooke, and Kayla and her husband Tom have one son, Luke.
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