"After three years with Craig as my coach I would say the word to describe my overall experience was misleading. I committed to Ball State as a Junior in high school and was excited to continue my soccer career as a D1 Athlete at ball state. My expectations were high as I walked through the gates of ball state and I was disappointed almost right away. I was promised so many things and yet what I experienced 99.9% of the time was head games. The head games took place from the start of my career with Craig until the very end when he left the university. I saw many of my teammates that I would consider family put into horrible mental situations that no one should go through while playing a sport they so called loved. I roomed with many other players and our afternoons and evening conversations were filled with nothing but discussions of what was going on on the field and how none of it made sense. Specific experiences that took place that impacted me during my time at ball state included when he would pit two players against each other during practice rather than having them work together… also another experience I recall is when myself and two other players were told we were the reason we lost the even though we spent the majority of the game on the bench cheering for our teammates. Overall, I would like to say that I wish no one else has this experience with Craig but weirdly as an adult now I want to thank him for making me realize that I can work for anyone because I will never have a worse coach or leader as him. Most of all I hope that my teammates that were impacted by his treatment will someday be able to heal because at the end of the day they are so much bigger, better and stronger than he is. "
"As a women’s collegiate head coach, Craig Roberts held an extreme position of power during a time of maturation for girls as they aged from eighteen into their twenties. Parents entrusted their daughters to Craig, believing he could mentor and mold their daughters correctly as they became young adults. He was fully aware of the significant and influential role he held, yet he completely abused it. He was incapable and unfit, and Ball State University let him reign for too long. Craig Roberts cultivated an unsafe and toxic environment that bred insecure, anxious, and panicked women. The examples of his mental and emotional abuse are clear—as you can reference the multiple testimonies from other women on this forum. Craig Roberts constantly dismissed me and mislead me, made me feel worthless. So, it is no surprise I left Ball State with a heightened awareness of my inadequacies that carried affect my personal and professional life. Under his care, my adoration for soccer progressively became demented and the passion turned into misery. He completely took advantage for our love for soccer: he knew that our only goal was to perform in games, and that we would go to any length to achieve that. Therefore, he exploited this as a bargaining chip to act however he wanted—completely inappropriate. For four years, he was rude, deceitful, hypocritical and an overall fraudulent leader. "
"At first I thought Craig was just a stern coach. Very disciplined which I don’t mind. But slowly as the season developed it turned into pushing players to play when injured, body shaming players when they were eating out on the road, throwing a clipboard at a player. I think he thinks he’s being funny but no one on the team found him likeable or even that knowledgable. He screamed at players if they asked questions about practice. The scary thing when I look back is this man has power over scholarships. Players will put up with a lot because it also comes down to how much money they get. We can’t just walk away because we needed that money to pay for a school, and I think he knows that. Very worrying "
"Sexist & abusive. I don’t care how many wins we had. The verbal abuse I endured is what I remember. Don’t let your daughters/sisters play for this man "
"I too, was sold the college dream of a MAC championship and a starting position. In reality, Craig was emotionally abusive, manipulative, and will make it nearly impossible to transfer to a different school even if you're not playing and clearly unhappy. He would force us to baby sit his step kids for free or we wouldn't get playing time. I submitted my letter of release and he told me and my father that I was worthless and wouldn't amount to anything. He didn't want me to leave but also said he couldn't tell me why I wasn't playing. He found out where I was transferring and called the head coach and told her I was an alcoholic and she shouldn't accept me as a transfer. He then proceeded to try to create a match between the team I was transferring to in order to disrupt my transfer. I had to go above him to the compliance director and beg to leave as I was depressed and was distancing from friends and family. Please do not fall for the charm and the lies. "
"Personally, I had a very good experience with Craig as my coach during my time at Ball State. Though I had teammates who felt otherwise, I feel a major problem was the fact that Craig was extremely direct with his communication and did not excuse/take it easy on players who did not follow team rules and expectations…but honestly, my prior coach before I came to Ball State was much much worse. He truly exhibited sexist behavior and verbal/emotional abuse. Craig was always respectful towards me and was an actual caring coach who wanted to maximize my experience on and off the pitch. For me, Craig revitalized my passion for soccer and led our team to great success. Yes, I feel Craig needs to improve on his ability to control his temper and think before he speaks to players and referees, but I do not think he deserves to be labeled as abusive. When I look back on my collegiate experience, I believe Craig was someone who was a positive light on my athletic and academic experience. Though others have shared differing opinions, this is my honest feedback on MY experience. "
"A very egotistical, narcissistic man. He always made it about himself. I honestly think he thought he was some sort of inspirational coach. He seemed to have little knowledge and was blessed to have very good players. I only spent 1 season with him because of his behaviour to the girls. Having looked at his track record in recent years it’s perhaps no surprise his career has not progressed but rather dropped to lower teams despite a winning record "
"After having a negative experience with a coach at my first university, Craig did a wonderful job of convincing me to transfer and finish out my D1 college experience at Ball State, where he ensured me I would get the college soccer experience I had always dreamt of. I was very wrong.
Craig was a master at creating the facade of being a wonderful, knowledgeable coach, but behind the scenes he treated his players, opposing team coaches and even his fellow coaching staff as if they were inferior to him with constant mind games, controlling behavior, inconsistencies in coaching decisions, verbal and emotional abuse.
He was especially abrasive towards women, whether that be his players, female coaching staff or female athletic trainers. He was constantly displaying sexist behavior.
An experience that stands out in my mind was when myself and my teammates walked into the locker-room one day to find that Craig had printed out pictures of various professional athletes, body-builders, etc. wearing sports bras & spandex and taped them onto the wall of our locker room telling us that these bodies are what men find “sexy” and these are the bodies we should be aspiring for.
Need I say more?"
"As a player I have never fallen out of the game so quickly. Manipulative, verbally abusive and at times I found him to be sexist. He has a winning record which seemed to be really positive but the day to day experience was a horrible environment to be a part of. Wins are great but It’ll be the verbal abuse and sexist comments are what will always be remembered at Grambling"
"In my collegiate experience Craig was manipulative, controlling and a liar. While he was a good salesman for his team and university, Craig drained any passion I had for the game almost immediately and created a toxic environment for his players and coaching staff. Everything from your daily schedule and workout regimen to diet was controlled by this man. If you were deemed “not good enough” by Craig you’d be tasked with early morning fitness and extra supervised study hours on top of the regularly scheduled practice, weightlifting, games, etc. Craig ignores injuries and doesn’t believe in an “off day” for recovery, though advised otherwise. It is a shame Craig has put so many young women through these traumatic experiences."
"Discipline was very important. Doesn't matter if you were the best player on the team, it was about who worked heard throughout the week and deserve to start during"
"Mentally and physically abusive. We would almost always go over our practice hours in and out of season. When we lost he made us eat McDonald’s and said we didn’t deserve a proper meal (apple bees) then we all had to write him a letter on the word appreciation. I didn’t transfer until he told me I wasn’t slow physically but mentally I was I was retarded. I’ve seen him throw clip boards at players, kick soccer balls at them to “teach” how to make an accurate pass. Would not recommend him to anyone. Mind you we won the MAC conference my junior year so the complaints never got him fired. I think it was a mutual hate for him that rallied the girls together to play for ourselves and each other after everything he put us through. I will say the man can recruit top talent. "
"My experience under Craig was something I wouldn’t wish on anyone to go through. I witnessed and was subjected to verbal abuse on a daily basis. He’s a manipulative liar. Forces you to play through injuries. Literally calls his players “f****** stupid” to their faces. This man should NOT be allowed to coach, especially women. He’s a sexist, body shaming, sick human being. He does not belong in college sports, or any level for that matter. A coach should be a mentor. He was the exact opposite of that and sucked the love of the game right out of me and many of my teammates. I feel sad for those who have to go through what I did. "
"If you want your mental health to be completely destroyed, then Craig Roberts is your guy. If you want to learn, grow, and have a healthy relationship with your coach and with the game, I cannot express enough how much I do NOT recommend him. Constant mental games, abuse, lies, and lack of compassion are what you will get with him. He won’t believe you when you’re sick and injured and will make you play anyway which WILL have long term effects. He will scream at every referee and opposing coach to the point where it’s embarrassing. I could go on for days- do not hire this man to coach women! "
"I've had many great coaches, but Craig tops them all. We had our best record under him...and still till this day 20 years later. He got ever ounce of potential out of us. No coincidence I had Individual success success as well. Simply look at his track record!"
"I played for Coach Roberts as a collegiate athlete. Not only does he know the game of soccer, but he cares about you as a player and person and will guide you in the right direction - even if it’s not what you want to hear at the time. Methodical, strategical and passionate coach. Very memorable. "
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