Born and raised in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, he still calls the City "home," even after spending the last several years on the opposite coast. He grew up walking familiar streets, attended Saints Peter and Paul, and like so many kids who came up in San Francisco, he eventually found himself wearing the green and white of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Basketball and baseball filled his days, but it was on the diamond where he truly found his footing even if that path took a few turns along the way. 

He headed to the University of San Francisco after high school with dreams of playing baseball. "I royally screwed that opportunity up," he says with a laugh. He called it a moment of emotional and academic immaturity that would later become part of his philosophy about growth, resilience and second chances. He moved onto City College of San Francisco, then to the College of Marin, where a mentor, Al Endriss, shifted the trajectory of his life. Playing baseball under the tutelage of Coach Endriss, a man who believed in him when no one else did, continued to drive his journey, but education and human performance began to capture his curiosity. Two years later, he earned his degree in physical education and psychology at Bellevue University in Nebraska, followed by a master's in educational best practices and dual teaching credentials in California and New Jersey. 

It was also during this period that two professional mentors, Doug Williams, Head Baseball Coach at the College of San Mateo, and Auggie Garrido, Head Baseball Coach at the University of Texas, further shaped the way Craig understood coaching and leadership. Throughout their guidance, he began to see performance not just as a physical pursuit, but as an emotional and psychological one. They challenged him to listen more than he spoke, to coach the person before the athlete and to recognize that confidence is built long before pressure arrives. 

Throughout his coaching career, spanning from Serra High School, SHC, College of San Mateo and beyond, one truth became undeniable: talent alone doesn't win. Pressure, expectation, comparison, fear; those are the real opponents. "I coached kids who were incredibly gifted, but when the crowd got loud or a top ranked team rolled in on a Friday, all that talent could shrink," he recalls. "They didn't have the tools to compete under pressure."

In response, he created something new. Once a week, his team stepped off the field and into what players called "chapel". A space for conversation, vulnerability and connection. A room where teenage boys, often conditioned to hide emotion, learned to speak openly about doubt, fear and mental strain. Slowly trust grew. Walls lowered. A team became a brotherhood. "It was magical," he says. "We weren't just building better players, we were building stronger people."

The impact stayed with him. It fueled him. And now it is leading him back to SHC. 

At SHC, Craig is stepping into a role that has mostly been seen at the collegiate level. Even before he's officially on campus, other schools are calling, curious about SHC's vision. His mission is clear: develop the mental skills that transform athletes, and students, into resilient, confident young adults. Skills like emotional regulation, focus, leadership, communication and the ability to handle adversity during difficult situations. 

He teaches it through an individual self-awareness system of "traffic lights" when he meets with each student—green for confidence and present, yellow for slipping, red for overwhelmed. The goal isn't perfection; it's awareness, recovery and control. 

"If we can train the mind the way we train the body," he says, "we build athletes who don't crumble under pressure. We build people who know how to respond to challenges, not just react to them."

That belief in mental training isn't something he just teaches now, it is rooted in the formative experiences that shaped him as a student at SHC. His own memories as a student are vivid: mushball games on the blacktop, daily structure, teachers who pushed hard because they cared deeply. Coaches like Steve Franceschi, Tim Burke '70 and John Scudder '73. Teachers like Rich Sansoe '71, whose class he still remembers with equal measures of intimidation and respect. 

"I needed Sacred Heart Cathedral more than Sacred Heart Cathedral needed me," he says. "It shaped me. It taught me accountability, responsibility and confidence that you are enough." 

And now he hopes to give back to students standing where he once stood. 

His message to students?

"Be curious. Be coachable. Be resilient. Success isn't linear. The setbacks matter just as much as the wins, maybe more. Build habits. Know your values. Control what you can control," he says. "And remember, the mind is a muscle too. Train it."

The road has taken him far from North Beach, but the journey is bringing him home, not just to San Francisco, but to SHC. His return is not just as an alumnus, but as a mentor, carrying forward the lessons that once shaped him. In helping students build resilience, awareness and strength from the inside out, he continuing the cycle, giving back to the community that first taught him how to grow and continue to help shape generations to come.