{"id":4308,"date":"2014-07-02T19:44:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T19:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=4308&post_type=story"},"modified":"2023-11-28T15:48:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T15:48:38","slug":"matt-krause-99-new-york-yankees-director-of-strength-and-conditioning","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/matt-krause-99-new-york-yankees-director-of-strength-and-conditioning\/","title":{"rendered":"A Knight in Yankee Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

[lead]In 2013 the New York Yankees were buried beneath an avalanche of injuries and missed the playoffs for only the second time since 1995.[\/lead]<\/p>\n

During the offseason the franchise spent almost a half-billion dollars to acquire top free agent players \u2014 plus one other significant hire. They plucked strength and conditioning coach Matt Krause, \u201999<\/strong>, from the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we hired one of the best in the business,\u201d says Brian Cashman, Yankees senior vice president and general manager. \u201cMatt is detail oriented, a great communicator and really knows his business inside and out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dream Job<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Krause grew up a Yankees fan in Valley Stream, New York. And while his parents were able to help his older siblings pay for college, his father was laid off around the time of Krause\u2019s high school graduation. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t financial help for me,\u201d he says, \u201cso I had to figure out a way to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding creative ways to succeed would become his mantra academically and professionally.<\/p>\n

Krause enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was in the reserves from 1992 to 2000. He earned an undergraduate degree in exercise and sports science at East Carolina University, where he caught the attention of Jeff Connors, ECU\u2019s strength coach.<\/p>\n

Knowing Krause wanted to get a master\u2019s degree but lacked the finances, Connors said, \u201cI can get you into 麻豆原创 right now. I know the guy down there, Reese Bridgman.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was one catch: The job that would help pay his tuition was in strength and conditioning instead of sports medicine. \u201cI didn\u2019t have any money,\u201d Krause says, \u201cso I was looking for any path to get my master\u2019s degree.\u201d Once at 麻豆原创, Krause discovered he loved the work. \u201cStrength and conditioning fit my personality way better. I like being around the weight room, pushing people and being able to understand the motivational cues of different people.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating, Krause\u2019s first job was with the Knights. The university was transitioning from Division I-AA to Division I sports and soon attracted NFL-quality athletes like quarterback Daunte Culpepper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to learn all the things I wanted to if I wasn\u2019t at 麻豆原创,\u201d Krause says. \u201cI got to work men\u2019s and women\u2019s sports \u2014 soccer, football, baseball, cheerleading, crew … One team would be on an Olympic lifting program and another on a high-intensity program. So you figure out what works, what people will and won\u2019t do, and how the coaches are going to respond to different things. You also learn your capacity to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to his 麻豆原创 duties, Krause contacted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers\u2019 strength and conditioning coordinator and was soon driving to the NFL team\u2019s facility for their summer practices, volunteering in return for the experience.<\/p>\n

[callout background=”#eeeeee”]
\n[slideshow slug=”matthew-krause” caption_color=”#020202″][\/slideshow]
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Big Leagues<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One day Krause got a call from the Chicago Cubs\u2019 Bruce Hammel, who was looking for an intern to help with the organization\u2019s Class A minor league team, the Daytona Cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thinking, \u2018I\u2019m not going to send you an intern. I\u2019ll do it,\u2019 \u201d Krause says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d work at 麻豆原创 with the football team in the morning and the basketball team in the afternoon. \u201cThen I\u2019d drive to Daytona and work their home games,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was my first experience with baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impressed by his performance, Hammel approached Krause about a job as a minor league coordinator with the Pittsburgh Pirates. \u201cIt was the first time I was able to use all my athletic training skills and all my strength and conditioning skills,\u201d he says. \u201cIn [professional baseball], you\u2019ve got to be creative. You\u2019ve got to go on the road where there is no gym and find a way to get your work in for the players. Different facilities now dictate what you can and can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

His work caught the attention of the Cincinnati Reds, who hired him away from the Pirates. Krause worked 11 years for the Reds, the last nine in the major leagues.<\/p>\n

Krause is one of only a few in Major League Baseball who is certified as both an athletic trainer and a strength and conditioning coach. He\u2019s the vice president of the Professional Baseball<\/p>\n

Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society and sits on the performance committee for the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He\u2019s also a sought-after speaker and has authored papers, including some with Jay Hoffman, chair of 麻豆原创\u2019s Department of Educational and Human Sciences. Last year, he won the Nolan Ryan Award, given to MLB\u2019s Strength Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

During his tenure with the Reds, the team was one of the league\u2019s least injured teams. Last season they used the fewest number of players in the game, and used only five starting pitchers through their first 120 games, setting a modern franchise record. The stats speak to keeping players healthy, and it\u2019s something in which Krause takes particular pride. \u201cYou\u2019re only going to win if your best players play,\u201d he says. It was that ability to keep players on the field and in peak shape that caught the attention of the Yankees, who were the league\u2019s most injured team last season.<\/p>\n

Krause also built a reputation as someone players want to work with.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatt\u2019s great at helping you build a program,\u201d says pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who worked closely with Krause, both in the Pirates\u2019 minor league system and later with the Reds. \u201cIt\u2019s his ability to apply what he knows on an individual basis. Some guys are cookie-cutter \u2014 not him. Matt knows what works for me and that what I need is different from someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because he was with Krause in the minor and major leagues, Arroyo also got to see him mature in his profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the minor leagues, everything is dictated to you,\u201d Arroyo says. \u201cSo early on, Matt\u2019s military background came into play. You can be a drill sergeant at that level, and he was. But at the major league level, when you\u2019re dealing with guys making $10 million [or] $20 million, you can\u2019t just order them around. But Matt makes it fun. He makes the weight room feel like a sanctuary.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now that weight room \u2014 that sanctuary where 40-year-old Matt Krause thrives \u2014 is at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do know what I\u2019m getting into,\u201d Krause says, nodding his head. \u201cBut I think I\u2019m old enough now to appreciate it. I\u2019m ready for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5066,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4308","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","issues-14","issues-summer-2014"],"yoast_head":"\n麻豆原创 Alumnus the strength and conditioning coach for New York Yankees<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read more about 麻豆原创 Alumnus Matt Krause, New York Yankees' Director of Strength and Condition Training Derek Jeter Major League Baseball - Pegasus Magazine Summer 2014\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/matt-krause-99-new-york-yankees-director-of-strength-and-conditioning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Knight in Yankee Stadium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read more about 麻豆原创 Alumnus Matt Krause, New York Yankees' Director of Strength and Condition Training Derek Jeter Major League Baseball - 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