With training schemes and service game in mind, Krass wanted to integrate his full time workout routines into Harvard's program once he became the coach in 1986.
He was in for a cold shock.
"At first, [Krass] had come form a program where tennis was the only thing," Rival said. "And, you don't drive a women's team as hard as you do a men's team. Here, you don't have eight hours a day to condition and run miles. You have to use quality, not quantity."
But the early misunderstandings didn't dent Harvard's performance in Krass' first campaign. The Crimson picked off Princeton, 7-2, to go undefeated in the Ivies, and whipped William & Mary to win the Eastern Regional title. Harvard went to the NCAA's.
Some Crimson players feel that Krass' greatest improvements at the outset involved a more sympathetic approach towards individual team members.
"[Krass] has improved under presure," Amy deLone said. "Ed used to pace up and down and was upset during his losses. At first, he came in, gung-ho on tennis, but, as he became more accomplished, he cared about other things. He's very understanding. It's nice to know that if you have an hourly, you don't have to pretend and make up an excuse to miss practice."
Krass' maturation yielded fruitful results for the Crimson in the 1987-88 season. Harvard swept its Ivy matches and defeated nemesis William & Mary, 6-3, to win the Eastern title for the second consecutive year. Bumping off 14th-ranked SMU in the National Indoors highlighted Harvard's season.
By 1988, Krass' devotion took the shape of pouring his own personal earnings from spare projects into the women's tennis coffers to aid the program. He marketed service videos espousing the "Biomechnically Efficient Service Technique" to generate more revenue for Friends of Women's Tennis. the donations permitted Harvard to travel to more tournaments and "compete on a higher national caliber," according to Krass.
Krass' introduction of the novel service technique that year particularly helped top-seeded Cristina Dragomirescu and fifth-seeded Kathy Mulvehal the latter of whom went undefeated for the season using Krass' serve.
Harvard tied Yale for the Cirmson's seventh consecutive Ivy title. But William & Mary spoiled Harvard's bid at a trifecta of Eastern titles, 5-4, as Crimson stars Kim Cooper and Kristin Bland nursed injuries.
Rival said that Krass' enthusiasm lifted the program amidst the harsh adjustments in the early going.
"[Krass] loves the game of tennis, no doubt about it," Rival says. "He always would break things down to get us going. He always adjusted to the problems."
"He's improved under pressure," adds deLone. "Rather than concentrate on a loss, [Krass] would focus on the positive things."
Krass' perseverance paid off this season. The Crimson entered the spring season ranked 13th in the East, predicted to die painful deaths to Brown and Dartmouth.
It never happened.
Harvard fatally wounded the Bruins from the Ivy race and mowed down the Big Green to clinch the Crimson's eighth-straight Ivy crown. Harvard also punctured ninth ranked Pepperdine--a win billed as "the greatest in the history of the program," according to Krass and other afficionados of Harvard tennis.