No matter where Mike Cragg goes, wins are sure to follow.

Fortunately for the Hobart College football program, he isn't planning to go any time soon.

An 1983 graduate of Slippery Rock University, Cragg is entering his 12th season as head coach at Hobart, located in Geneva, N.Y.

During his tenure, the Statesmen are 73-37 and have made postseason play five times. That includes the last two years, which saw Hobart reach the Division III Sweet 16 in the national playoffs.

The team also has won five Liberty League titles (1998, 2000, 2002-04) under Cragg.

But success is nothing new to the Corry, Pa., native.

His love of sports is where it all began.

"My dad coached football, basketball and track and field at Corry High School," said Cragg. "I remember as a kid asking him where he went to college."

The answer would influence the younger Cragg when it came time for him to choose a college.

"My dad was a swimmer at Slippery Rock. The fact that he went there, it was a big reason why I ended up going there," he said.

Cragg, who was a health and physical education major, lettered for The Rock football team in 1980-81 as a free safety and outside linebacker.

As he was gearing up for his senior campaign, a stroke of bad luck befell Cragg.

"I tore up my right knee during the preseason," he said. "I missed the entire season."

But he was able to turn his injury into a positive.

He essentially became another assistant for head coach Don Ault, helping to coach the team's defensive backs. He helped The Rock to a 7-3 record in 1982, the program's best finish in six years.

"I got my love of coaching from my dad," said Cragg. "But it was at Slippery Rock where I learned how to be a coach. Things like the amount of detail and the number of hours that go into it, I learned it all in college."

After graduation, Cragg found himself back in Corry coaching the varsity football team. He was there only two years, but Cragg took the Beavers to the District 10 playoffs for the first time ever during his second season.

"I loved coaching high school. I really did," said Cragg. "But I missed the college game and being around the older players. I was a teacher at Corry and ended up taking an $18,000 pay cut to come to Hobart in 1986."

During his first nine seasons at Hobart, Cragg served in a number of capacities, including defensive coordinator, a position which, in addition to his head coach duties, he still holds today.

Named the 23rd head coach in the program's history in January 1995, Cragg began a journey that would lead him to the most wins of any coach the school has ever had.

With a 21-0 win over Dickinson (Pa.) College to open the 2005 campaign, Cragg passed J. Edward Tryon (1946-62) for first on the all-time win list.

"Getting to that point, it means I've been smart enough to go out and get good assistants," said Cragg. "If you surround yourself with great people, good things are going to happen.

"When I first came here, I was looking to build my resume and move on up the ladder, on to another school," said Cragg. "But then I met my wife (Holley) and I wised up. You don't have to keep moving from place to place."

Cragg and his wife live with their two children, Michael and Kristen Alexandria, in Geneva.

And if Cragg has it his way, they'll be there for a while.

"It's a gorgeous town right in the middle of the Finger Lakes," he said. "I want to still be here five or six years from now. We've got more work to do."

<i>This is one in a series of articles on Slippery Rock University graduates who have moved on to athletic careers elsewhere.</i>