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POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State Director of Athletics Jeff Tingey announced today that Mike Kramer has been named the 25th head football coach at Idaho State University. Kramer is no stranger to the Big Sky Conference as he has previously been the head coach at Eastern Washington and Montana State. He is one of only five coaches in Big Sky history to be named Big Sky Coach of the Year three times, twice while at Montana State and once at Eastern Washington.
“We are excited to have Mike Kramer join our athletic department,” Tingey said. “He is one of the most successful coaches in Big Sky football history. He has proven himself on the field of competition and he is a coach who is very charismatic. Coach Kramer is a coach who will come in and develop instant relationships in the Pocatello community."
Kramer, who spent the last year as the assistant football operations coordinator at Washington State, had previously served as the head coach at Montana State for seven seasons where he amassed 40 wins and led the Bobcats to three Big Sky Conference championships. He also served as head coach at Eastern Washington, where he compiled a record of 37-32 from 1994-99, including the school's first outright conference title in 1997. That year he guided his team the semi-finals of the FCS playoffs, the last Big Sky team other than Montana to make the semi-finals.
His 77 career wins, 53 of which came in league play, ranks fourth all-time in conference history, and he is the only coach to win Big Sky Coach of the Year honors at two different schools. His 53 Big Sky wins ranks third for most conference wins in Big Sky history. He needs one victory to tie Don Read (Montana) and move into second place.
From 2002-07 MSU went 35-26 (.574), including an eight-win campaign in 2006, the school's highest total since 1984. Kramer also orchestrated five-straight winning seasons, the longest for the program in more than 40 years (1956-64). The Bobcats' 2006 season also featured the school's first postseason win and postseason home game since 1984, and a No. 10 final national ranking.
“We are excited to welcome Mike Kramer to Idaho State University and the Pocatello community,” Idaho State President Dr. Arthur Vailas said. “He is an experienced coach in this conference who has had a lot of success."
The Colton, Wash., native began his coaching career at his prep alma mater as a student teacher and assistant coach in 1976, helping the team to the state B-11 Championship. The next year, Kramer became a full-time assistant at Helena High, and upon his mentor's departure to join the MSU staff was elevated to the head coaching position. His highly successful tenure - he led the Bengals to the state title game for the first time since 1958 - was capped with a stint as the winning head coach in the East-West Shrine Game in '82.
After serving as Helena's head coach from 1980-82, Kramer joined the Bobcat staff in 1983 as a defensive line coach, and a year later was part of a championship squad. In 1985, Kramer assumed defensive coordinator duties. Following the 1986 season, Kramer became a teacher and head football coach at Tacoma Stadium High School, and remained there for two seasons. In 1989, Dick Zornes hired Kramer as Eastern Washington's offensive line coach.
A 1977 graduate of Idaho, Kramer started 36 of his 44 games on the offensive and defensive lines, including nine games at defensive end as a freshman in 1972. The next year he started seven games at center, and in 1974 and 1975 started at guard.
Mike and his wife Sandi have two daughters, Courtney and Gretchen, a student at Washington State University.
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