Wojtek Krakowiak begins his seventh season at Montana State Billings and sixth as head coach of the Yellowjackets. Krakowiak carries an overall record of 62-34-12 during his five years at the helm of the program.
The Yellowjackets advanced to their third GNAC tournament in the last four years during 2015, as Krakowiak piloted the squad to an overall record of 8-7-2 and a fourth-place finish in the GNAC with a league record of 6-5-1. Senior Katlyn Lokay was a first-team all-GNAC pick, and finished her career with the second-most minutes played in program history under Krakowiak.
In 2014, Krakowiak led the ‘Jackets to an 11-4-2 record and the No. 2 berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championships by virtue of finishing in second place in the regular-season standings.
MSUB allowed just 12 goals during the 2014 season, and Krakowiak was selected by his peers as the GNAC co-Coach of the Year.
Under his guidance, six Yellowjackets earned all-conference honors and one earned all-region honors. MSUB was also selected as a recipient of the NSCAA Team Ethics Award.
In 2013, the Yellowjackets narrowly missed the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, finishing in fifth place in the regular season standings with a record of 6-8-2. Under Krakowiak’s guidance, MSUB has won 12-consecutive National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Awards.
In 2012, he led MSU Billings to a 13-6-1 overall record and 8-5-1 GNAC record en route to an appearance in the inaugural GNAC Women's Soccer Championships. The Yellowjackets’ 9-0 start was the second-best overall start and winning streak in the program's history.
In the Sept. 25 NSCAA/Continental Tire national poll MSUB climbed to a No. 23 national ranking and a No. 3 ranking in the west region. Leading the 'Jackets to an 8-1 record in September, Coach Krakowiak earned the GNAC Coach of the Month award.
For their efforts in 2012, the 'Jackets saw seven student-athletes selected to the all-GNAC team, four NSCAA/Continental Tire all-West Region selections and three Daktronics all-West Region selections.
MSUB also had a program-high 11 student-athletes selected to the 2012 GNAC all-academic list. Jennifer Larsen received 2012 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American first team honors, and Jaucelyn Richter received third team NSCAA Scholar All-American honors.
As the interim head coach in 2011 he led the team to an 11-3-4 overall record, 8-2-4 GNAC record and a second-place conference finish. Krakowiak's 2011 results mark the fewest losses and best winning percentage (.722) in the program's history. Six Yellowjackets received all-conference honors during that season.
As an assistant in 2010 Krakowiak helped the 'Jackets to a 13-6-1 overall record, 9-5 GNAC record, a tie for second in the final conference standings and their first NCAA tournament appearance. MSUB advanced to the second round of the regional tournament, falling to Seattle Pacific 2-0.
Prior to MSUB he served as the head coach at Division III Rutgers – Newark.
Krakowiak, a native of Poland, brings a tremendous amount of experience to the program as a player and a coach. As the head coach at Rutgers-Newark, Krakowiak went 15-20-3. Krakowiak guided the program to its only postseason berth in its brief 10-year history in 2008 when it participated in the ECAC Metro Championship tournament.
Prior to being named head coach for the Scarlet Raiders in November of 2007, Krakowiak was an assistant coach for one year with the men's and women's teams.
As a player, he played at St. John’s University and Clemson University during his collegiate career. He was honored as the Soccer America Freshman of the Year at St. John’s after helping the Red Storm to the 1996 NCAA Championship. At Clemson, Krakowiak was the 1998 Hermann Trophy recipient (equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) and the ACC Player of the Year, as he scored 31 goals and had eight assists leading Clemson to the NCAA quarterfinals.
After his collegiate career he was drafted 15th overall in the 1999 MLS College Draft by the San Jose Clash. In the 2000 MLS season he played 24 games and scored five goals for San Jose. In 2001 he was picked up by the Tampa Bay Mutiny, but injuries cut short his time there and his professional playing career came to an end.
Staying active in the local community, Krakowiak has been coaching with the Magic City Soccer Club the past three years and has won the U-14 girls' division 2010 Montana State Cup Championship. He also finished second with his U-16 girls' team in the 2010 Montana State Cup Championship.
Krakowiak, earned his Bachelor of Science in sports management from St. John’s University in 2003, and he holds several USSF and NSCAA licenses, including his 'A' license in the USSF. Furthermore, he is fluent in both Polish and Russian.
Krakowiak is married to Maggie Krakowiak and the couple has twin girls, Addison and Emilia (7).
