One of the most successful coaches in Big Sky football history is now an Idaho State Bengal. Mike Kramer was hired to be the Bengal’s 25th head coach in program history on Nov. 22, 2010.  Since being given the charge to rebuild the Bengal football program, ISU has made great strides on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

Kramer led the Bengals to their first winning season since 2003 in 2014. Idaho State finished with an 8-4 record and a 6-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play. The offense rewrote the record books as it finished with 6,744 total yards and 64 touchdowns.  ISU tallied 2,567 rushing yards, breaking a school record that stood since 1957. Senior quarterback Justin Arias was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and he was a third-team All-American and first-team all-conference. With the success of the 2014 season, Kramer finished seventh in the voting for the Eddie Robinson Award and he was awarded the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year. Kramer is the second coach in Division I history to earn conference Coach of the Year honors at three different schools in the same league.

The football program recorded a perfect single-year APR score of 1,000 for the 2011-12 academic year and it reached an all-time high four-year score of 977 following the 2014-15 academic year. In the fall of 2012 and 2013 a record 20 players were named to the Big Sky All-Academic team, breaking the record of 17 that was set by Kramer’s 2011 team.

In the fall of 2011, the team had a GPA of 3.04 and 51 out of the 80 student-athletes had a 3.0 or higher.  Those numbers were topped in the spring when the football team had a team GPA of 3.16 and had 53 of 79 student-athletes earn a 3.0 or higher. 

In the community, the Bengals are active in the community. The team has participated in canned food and recycle drives, clothing drives, fed the homeless and bagged groceries at a local super market.

In Kramer’s first three seasons, the Bengal offense has set numerous Big Sky and Idaho State single-season record.

In 2011 the Bengal offense set numerous single-season and single-game offensive records led by the play of Rodrick Rumble and Kevin Yost. Rumble broke the Big Sky and Bengal football single-season record for receptions with 112 and he had the third most receiving yards in Bengal history with 218 at Washington State. Rumble, A.J. Storms and punter David Harrington all earned various All-American honors at the conclusion of the 2011 season and offensive lineman Braeden Clayson signed a free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

The 2012 season saw Rumble became the ISU all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards and he signed a free-agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Tight End Josh Hill signed a free-agent contract with the New Orleans Saints and the offense set a Big Sky record for completions and attempts.

The 2013 season saw quarterback Justin Arias set ISU single-season records. Luke Austin and Brendon Garcia earned second-team all-conference accolades.

Kramer’s has previously been the head coach at fellow Big Sky Conference schools, Eastern Washington and Montana State.

He is one of only five coaches in Big Sky history be named Big Sky Coach of the Year three times, twice while at Montana State and once at Eastern Washington. 

Kramer spent the 2010 season as the assistant football operations coordinator at Washington State. Prior to Washington State Kramer was hired as the head coach at Montana State in 2000 where he coached at until 2006. During his time in Bozeman he amassed 40 wins and led the Bobcats to three Big Sky Conference championships. From 2002-07 MSU went 35-26, including an eight-win campaign in 2006, at the time was the schools highest-total since 1984.

Kramer orchestrated five-straight winning seasons in Bozeman, the longest for the program in more than 40 years. Montana State’s 2006 season featured the first postseason win and postseason home games since 1984 and a No. 10 final national ranking. The 2006 team lost in the quarterfinals to eventual national champion Appalachian State.

Kramer’s defensive staff and then, with the addition of Don Bailey as offensive coordinator, rewrote most of the Bobcat record books during his seven year run. Records broken and surpassed included most total offense, passing, rushing, and receiving records for single game, season, and career in almost every category. His 2001-2003 teams led the Big Sky Conference in total defense under the direction of current Boise State defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

A key feature of Kramer’s success was ending a 17-game losing streak to arch-rival Montana. In fact, the Bobcats under Kramer were able to beat the perennial Big Sky Champion Grizzlies 3 of 4 contests 2002-2005. Attendance at Bobcat games doubled and tripled to the current levels enjoyed by the Bobcat faithful.

Notable among the many of Kramer’s outstanding Bobcat performers was quarterback Travis Lulay currently with the British Columbia Lions, running back Ryan Johnson who was named to the Elite Eight as a NCAA scholar athlete in 2003, cornerback Joey Thomas currently with the Oakland Raiders, and center Jeff Bolton who was named the Rimington Award Winner (I-AA) after the 2005 season.

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 to the semi-finals of the FCS playoffs, the last Big Sky team other than Montana to make the semi-finals. His Eastern team lost to eventual national champion Youngstown State coached by Jim Tressel. From 1995 through 1999 the Eagles produced a 1000 yard rusher every season.

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 an undefeated season and the state B-11 Championship. The next year, Kramer became teacher and assistant football coach at Helena High under eventual University of Montana head coach Mick Dennehy. In 1980, upon his mentor's departure to join the MSU staff, he was elevated to the head coaching position. His highly successful tenure - he led the Bengals to their first winning season 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 the 1984 Big Sky Conference and NCAA I-AA national championship squad as the inside linebackers coach for head coach Dave Arnold. In 1985, Kramer assumed defensive coordinator duties and moved to coaching the secondary. Following the 1986 season, Kramer returned to the high school ranks as 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 defensive line coach. In 1991, Kramer moved to the offensive side of the ball where he coached for three seasons helping the Eagles to a share of the Big Sky conference title in 1992.

As the head coach of the Eagles Kramer’s teams rewrote most the total offense, rushing, passing and receiving records at EWU. Those records were eclipsed by former Kramer assistant coach and eventual head coach Paul Wulff’s teams 2000-2007. Current national champion Eastern Washington’s success followed on the heels of such Kramer luminaries as quarterback Harry Leons, running backs Rex Prescott and Michael McKenzie, offensive tackle Trent Pollard, and wide receiver Jeff Ogden. Kramer recruited to Eastern eventual NFL defensive lineman Dario Romero and wide receiver Lamont Brighful.

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 for current ISU tight ends coach Matt Troxel’s grand-father Ed Troxel.

Kramer’s education credentials include a bachelor of science degree from the University of Idaho, a master’s degree in physical education from Eastern Washington, and graduate studies in educational administration at Washington State University. He is an avid mountaineer with conquests of most of the tallest peaks in the Pacific Northwest including several different routes on Mt Rainier.

Mike’s wife, Sandi, is a health care administrator with degrees in nursing from Carroll College and Montana State University. They have two daughters. Courtney is Bozeman city historic preservationist with degrees from Montana State University and the University of Kentucky. Gretchen is a graduate of Washington State.