BOBCATS BEHIND THE SCENES: Mike Kramer
7/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Big Sky Conference isn’t a pit stop for Mike Kramer, a stopping point on his way to a bigger and better job. It’s a way of life. It’s part of who he is.
“I’ve been in the league longer than anyone other than (Idaho State athletic trainer) Phil Luckey,” Kramer laughed Indeed, Kramer has been a player, assistant coach or head coach in the Big Sky Conference for 22 of the last 32 years. Kramer’s career in the Big Sky covers more than half of the league’s 40 years. Before he joined the University of Idaho program in 1972 as a freshman who would start that year, and who would enjoy an outstanding four-year career with the Vandals.
Even before Kramer became a Vandal, he had grown up in Colton, Wash., on a steady diet of Idaho and Washington State football. He recalls seeing Dennis Erickson, who would be his offensive coordinator during his final two years as a Vandal player, play quarterback for the Bobcats in the late ‘60s.
Below is a closer look, through Kramer’s eyes, at the history of the Big Sky Conference, and the future of Bobcat football…
Q: Where do you see the Big Sky Conference right now?
A: I don’t think the league is as strong as we were in the mid-90s, simply because there’s a little more parity. You’re at a disadvantage when you don’t have a team ranked no. one in the country or the leading Walter Payton Trophy candidate. Offensive notoriety translates into dominant greatness. I think we could rectify that this year, because there is a pretty 1990s feel to the league right now. There are six returning quarterbacks, and while the conference has lost its pass-happy flavor experience and success at the quarterback position usually translates into great things for a program.
Q: Why did the league go away from the pass-on-every-down philosophy for which it had gained so much notoriety in the 1980s and ‘90s?
A: There’s really only one coach in the Big Sky now that will throw on every down without regard to down and distance, and that’s Larry Lewis (at Idaho State). There are schools that profess to be passing teams, but we’re still seeing a lot of multiple tight ends and two-back teams. The reason for that is that teams are trying to gird themselves for November. While we had tremendous notoriety in the ‘90s, the Big Sky had only one National Champion (Montana in 1995). It’s pretty hard for me to say right now that the Big Sky is the premiere I-AA conference, but I think teams are beginning to gird themselves for November. The league is starting to realize that you need to play a certain style of football to win in November and December, and that has led to a different looking league. The league has also turned its eye toward playing a lot better defensively, not just alignment defense but technical defense.
Q: How has Montana’s tremendous run of success changed the Big Sky Conference?
A: Teams are now thinking in terms of not just winning the conference but of winning the national championship. And I think that as Montana has begun to run the ball more effectively, teams have become more geared to stop the run, and have understood the importance of being able to run the ball late in the season.
Q: How has the Big Sky changed in terms of Xs and Os through the years?
A: It was very interesting for me to watch Montana change its offensive modus under Mick Dennehy. He did exactly what we were doing at Eastern Washington, Weber State is now doing exactly what we were doing at Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona under Jerome (Souers) is doing that sort of thing. Teams are emphasizing the run more and more, and defenses gear themselves for stopping the run more and more, yet fear of the pass changes the face and scope of every defensive game plan. You have to be prepared for five wide (receivers) every time out. When I was playing in the conference, it was an option league with some passing. At Boise State, Tony Knapp threw the ball, and then Dave Kraghtorpe threw it at Idaho State. There was some passing in the Big Sky in the 1960s and ‘70s, but the envelope was really pushed by Boise State in the ‘70s and Idaho State in the early ‘80s.
Q: How do you size up the Big Sky Conference in a national context right now?
A: I think the league is stable, and very competitive. We haven’t expanded or disbanded in almost a decade, and I think the new programs have grown into the league. This is a really good and competitive league. I believe the absolute basis for all runs at the national championship in I-AA have one common aspect: home field. The changing national landscape and the nature of our conference, with the parity, may lead to a scenario where only one Big Sky team each year is capable of putting together a long run of home games through the post-season. So, when the Big Sky team doesn’t reach the national championship game it sets the whole league back.
“I’ve been in the league longer than anyone other than (Idaho State athletic trainer) Phil Luckey,” Kramer laughed Indeed, Kramer has been a player, assistant coach or head coach in the Big Sky Conference for 22 of the last 32 years. Kramer’s career in the Big Sky covers more than half of the league’s 40 years. Before he joined the University of Idaho program in 1972 as a freshman who would start that year, and who would enjoy an outstanding four-year career with the Vandals.
Even before Kramer became a Vandal, he had grown up in Colton, Wash., on a steady diet of Idaho and Washington State football. He recalls seeing Dennis Erickson, who would be his offensive coordinator during his final two years as a Vandal player, play quarterback for the Bobcats in the late ‘60s.
Below is a closer look, through Kramer’s eyes, at the history of the Big Sky Conference, and the future of Bobcat football…
Q: Where do you see the Big Sky Conference right now?
A: I don’t think the league is as strong as we were in the mid-90s, simply because there’s a little more parity. You’re at a disadvantage when you don’t have a team ranked no. one in the country or the leading Walter Payton Trophy candidate. Offensive notoriety translates into dominant greatness. I think we could rectify that this year, because there is a pretty 1990s feel to the league right now. There are six returning quarterbacks, and while the conference has lost its pass-happy flavor experience and success at the quarterback position usually translates into great things for a program.
Q: Why did the league go away from the pass-on-every-down philosophy for which it had gained so much notoriety in the 1980s and ‘90s?
A: There’s really only one coach in the Big Sky now that will throw on every down without regard to down and distance, and that’s Larry Lewis (at Idaho State). There are schools that profess to be passing teams, but we’re still seeing a lot of multiple tight ends and two-back teams. The reason for that is that teams are trying to gird themselves for November. While we had tremendous notoriety in the ‘90s, the Big Sky had only one National Champion (Montana in 1995). It’s pretty hard for me to say right now that the Big Sky is the premiere I-AA conference, but I think teams are beginning to gird themselves for November. The league is starting to realize that you need to play a certain style of football to win in November and December, and that has led to a different looking league. The league has also turned its eye toward playing a lot better defensively, not just alignment defense but technical defense.
Q: How has Montana’s tremendous run of success changed the Big Sky Conference?
A: Teams are now thinking in terms of not just winning the conference but of winning the national championship. And I think that as Montana has begun to run the ball more effectively, teams have become more geared to stop the run, and have understood the importance of being able to run the ball late in the season.
Q: How has the Big Sky changed in terms of Xs and Os through the years?
A: It was very interesting for me to watch Montana change its offensive modus under Mick Dennehy. He did exactly what we were doing at Eastern Washington, Weber State is now doing exactly what we were doing at Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona under Jerome (Souers) is doing that sort of thing. Teams are emphasizing the run more and more, and defenses gear themselves for stopping the run more and more, yet fear of the pass changes the face and scope of every defensive game plan. You have to be prepared for five wide (receivers) every time out. When I was playing in the conference, it was an option league with some passing. At Boise State, Tony Knapp threw the ball, and then Dave Kraghtorpe threw it at Idaho State. There was some passing in the Big Sky in the 1960s and ‘70s, but the envelope was really pushed by Boise State in the ‘70s and Idaho State in the early ‘80s.
Q: How do you size up the Big Sky Conference in a national context right now?
A: I think the league is stable, and very competitive. We haven’t expanded or disbanded in almost a decade, and I think the new programs have grown into the league. This is a really good and competitive league. I believe the absolute basis for all runs at the national championship in I-AA have one common aspect: home field. The changing national landscape and the nature of our conference, with the parity, may lead to a scenario where only one Big Sky team each year is capable of putting together a long run of home games through the post-season. So, when the Big Sky team doesn’t reach the national championship game it sets the whole league back.
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