Football (Chronicle)
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 9:50 am
Towards the bottom it talks about a transfer receiver from University of Arizona.
MSU football: Kramer living in the moment
By TIM DUMAS, Chronicle Sports Writer
With a fourth of the NFL currently searching for head coaches, there will be steady movement among the lower ranks as those positions are filled.
For every coordinator or assistant who is promoted to head status, another opening is created. It's a prime time to move up.
But Montana State head coach Mike Kramer, who has been a college or high school coach since 1976, does not aspire to walk along the sidelines in the pros.
At one point in his career, maybe. But not anymore.
"Everybody wonders about it, but it's something I wonder about less and less every single day," said Kramer on Wednesday, while on a recruiting visit in Pittsburgh, Calif.
The length of the NFL season and the endless hours of preparation are two main reasons why Kramer, 51, has little desire to advance.
Sure, his bank account would grow, but other aspects of his life would suffer.
"Money is a motivating factor, but time is a more precious commodity," he said. "Time with your family, time with your coaches, time with your team and time for the rest of your life is something that we value pretty strongly.
"We already work hard enough."
Many of the seven NFL coaches recently fired (Kansas City's Dick Vermeil is also gone, retiring for the second time) were with their teams for less than five seasons, and two were let go under questionable circumstances.
The New Orleans Saints sacked Jim Haslett after a season in which his team had to relocate after Hurricane Katrina, playing "home" games in New York, San Antonio and Baton Rouge.
St. Louis' Mike Martz was let go after missing most of the season with health problems.
So NFL coaches don't last long. It can be the same situation in college.
"I've been fired here (in 1986), and I'm on a one-year contract, so what's the difference?" Kramer said. "When you talk about secured longevity, there's no NFL coach that has anything over us."
Kramer's current contract, which is limited to one year due to state law, runs through June. His job appears safe for now, meaning wife Sandi and daughters Courtney, 22, who is attending the University of Kentucky, and Gretchen, a sophomore at Bozeman High, don't have to worry about packing up and moving from a city they enjoy.
"We're happy for the moment," Mike Kramer said. "When you're on a one-year contract, that's all you can do is live in the moment.
"That lack of a multi-year contract is a pretty concerning factor."
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NEW SEMESTER, NEW PLAYERS: Kramer hopes to have a number of new transfers on campus when classes begin on Wednesday.
Quarterback Jack Rolovich (Hawaii), receiver Donnell Wheaton (UNLV), receiver Deon Tolliver (East Los Angeles College) and linebacker Will Claggett (Butte [Calif.] College) have already indicated their intentions to come to Bozeman.
There is also the possibility that Arizona receiver Mike Jefferson could be coming as well. Jefferson caught four passes as a junior this past fall, but did not play in the Wildcats' final seven games.
The 6-foot-2, 203-pounder out of El Paso, Texas, had 16 receptions in each of his first two seasons in Tucson.
The Bobcats are also looking to add a transfer safety and defensive lineman.
Montana State will open the 2006 season on Sept. 2 at Colorado, which hired former Boise State head coach Dan Hawkins last month after Gary Barnett stepped down after his seventh season.
MSU is still looking to fill two other non-conference dates, most likely to be played in September, which would give the Bobcats a bye week before they play at Montana on Nov. 18 to conclude the regular season.
"I think Peter (Fields, MSU's athletic director) would love to sign, if there was an available Division I-AA game for the 11th of November," Kramer said, "but I'd love to have the bye before the 'Cat-Griz game."
MSU has tentatively scheduled UC Davis as one of its home non-conference games, but nothing has been made official yet. The same goes for a 2008 game slated at the University of Minnesota.
