Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 5 | May 2018

14 Inside Hokie Sports Even after starting four different companies, losing everything twice and once being relegated to sleeping in abandoned houses, Chris Krebs refuses to let anything tame his entrepreneurial spirit. “My aversion to risk is very high,” the former Virginia Tech football player said. Each time he was knocked to the proverbial mat, Krebs got up, wagered on a new idea and bet heavily on himself again. Fortunately, his latest venture is paying off handsomely—both for him and subsequently for Virginia Tech Athletics. Krebs’ success in the business world recently led to him making a major pledge commitment to the athletics department. The financial resources will be used specifically to benefit the football program, and in recognition of that support, the safeties/rovers position meeting room will be named in his honor. In addition, an etched glass rendering of his face will be a part of the Merryman Center’s “Pride and Joy Wall” of former players who give back to the program. “I put a lot into my studies and in my athletic career while I was at Tech, and I know that the coaches, the fans on the athletic side and the professors on the academic side put a lot into me,” Krebs said. “I had this ingrained sense of self and also a sense that, as Kevin Spacey once said, to send the elevator back down. Now that financially I’m able to give back more, it seems like it should be a mandatory event in my life that I give back and let kids have the same opportunity that I had to go to this type of amazing university.” Krebs became the latest in a list of former Virginia Tech football players to give back recently to the athletics department—a group that includes Steve Johnson, Jeff King, Andre Davis and others. Also, current defensive coordinator Bud Foster gave back through his foundation this past October. Krebs, a native of Burke, Virginia who played his high school ball for James W. Robinson High, served as a backup rover and played on certain special teams for the Hokies during his career. He lettered all four seasons from 1998-2001, and he played in 39 games. Krebs graduated from Virginia Tech with two degrees, earning undergraduate degrees in management science and information technology and also finance. He plans on contributing to the Pamplin College of Business as well. “I’ve been almost best friends with Tom Tillar [former vice president of alumni relations] this whole time,” Krebs said. “From my senior year, we started a friendship that turned into a mentorship. Now he’s back with the Pamplin College of Business [as the special assistant to the dean], so now I’m going to start giving to them, too. He’s followed me throughout my career from day 1. Not only to respect the university and the degrees that I have, but the fact that he re-engaged back in the Pamplin College of Business, I’m going to re-engage.” Krebs’ professional career has been a rather interesting one. An internship on Wall Street with Robertson Stephens, an investment bank based in San Francisco, started him in a career in investment services. Once he graduated from Virginia Tech, he worked for John Hancock—albeit briefly. The entrepreneur in him got the best of him, and he started his own company called Premier Imaging, with cutting-edge graphics technology. Then he lost everything at the age of 24. He started again, getting into importing gourmet Italian espresso out of Stuart, Florida—and lost everything again. Chris Krebs learned a lot as a player and as a student, and that helped him overcome adversity in his professional career. Now he wants to pay it forward and help others. by Jimmy Robertson KREBS the latest former football player to give back to TECH ATHLETICS