Sport(s) Football Name Roy Kramer 1990–2002 SEC (commissioner) | 1978–1990 Vanderbilt 1967–1977 Central Michigan Education Maryville College | |
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Overall 83–32–2 (college)
58–14–3 (high school) Role American football head coach | ||
Roy Kramer is a former American college football coach and athletics administrator. Kramer was the head football coach for Central Michigan University from 1967 to 1977, compiling a record of 83–32–2 and winning the 1974 NCAA Division II National Football Championship. He then served as the athletic director at Vanderbilt University from 1978 to 1990, and later as the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference from 1990 to 2002, where he created the Bowl Championship Series.
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Coaching career
Before coaching at Central Michigan, Kramer coached high school football for nine years in Michigan. He Kramer is a graduate of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee.
Administrative career
Kramer became the sixth commissioner of the Southeastern Conference on January 10, 1990. Within seven months of his appointment, the conference announced plans for expansion, adding Arkansas and South Carolina officially on July 1, 1991. Following expansion, Kramer guided the conference in formulating divisional play and the first Division I-A conference football championship game.
During his tenure at the helm of the SEC, the conference won 81 national championships, the most ever in a decade by the league. Kramer oversaw the distribution of a then-league record $95.7 million to its member institutions for 2001–02. Kramer negotiated multi-sport national television packages with CBS and ESPN, featuring football and men's and women's basketball, through the 2008–09 season.
Because of his influence, the Men's and Women's SEC Athlete of the year award is presented annually as the Roy F. Kramer Award.
Kramer was succeeded as the SEC's commissioner by Michael Slive.
Honors
Kramer was named to the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 2008. He was also awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2008.