Born Edward Walter Kriaučiūnas in Chicago to Lithuanian immigrant parents, Krause grew up in the Town of Lake section or, as it was once known as, Back of the Yards. His brother, Feliksas Kriaučiūnas, was the captain of Lithuania national basketball team in 1937. His surname was shortened to Krause by his high school football coach, who could not pronounce Kriaučiūnas (Lithuanian pronunciation:[krɪ.ɐutɕɪˈuːnɐs]).
At the University of Notre Dame, Krause competed in track, baseball, football and basketball, becoming the first Notre Dame player to make the halls of fame of both basketball and football. In basketball, he was a three-time consensus All-American, in 1932, 1933, and 1934. Krause played football for the Fighting Irish under Hunk Anderson. He graduated cum laude from Notre Dame with a journalism degree in 1934 .
Coaching career
Krause's coaching career included a five-year stint as head coach in all sports at Saint Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, now Saint Mary's University of Minnesota; an assistant football coach at the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Notre Dame for ten years; and head basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame in 1943 and again from 1946 to 1951, when he compiled a record of 98–48 (.671).[1] As acting head football coach at Notre Dame, filling in for an ailing Frank Leahy, Krause was 3–0.
Krause became the assistant athletic director at Notre Dame in 1948. In March 1949, he was named athletic director, succeeding Frank Leahy, who stepped down from the role to focus on his post as head football coach.[2]
