New Approach Pleases Kramer

Eastern Washington’s Mike Kramer is coaching less and enjoying it more these days.

The Eagles’ third-year head coach has taken the art of delegation to a new level - for him, personally, at least - and he’s starting to cherish the freedom that comes with letting somebody else call the shots.

“To me, it’s really been a great catharsis,” Kramer said of his off-season decision to let offensive coordinator J.D. Sollars and defensive coordinator Jerry Graybeal do what they’re paid to do. “I sleep better at night, I enjoy my quality of life now a lot more and I think our practices are much more productive because now I’ve been able to step back and see what everybody else is doing and facilitate our organization better.”

Kramer’s change in management style was apparent during last Saturday’s heartbreaking 22-20 loss at Weber State in the season opener for both Big Sky Conference schools.

Freed from the shackles of a headset, he roamed the sidelines continuously, stopping occasionally to listen in on a coversation between Sollars and his starting quarterback Harry Leons or offer a suggestion to Graybeal and his defensive troops.

It was a dramatic change from last year when Kramer wore the headset to stay in constant contact with his assistants in the press box and called every offensive play.

“In ‘95, I literally ran our offense - called every play, called every set and had everyone do it my way,” said Kramer, who also coached quarterbacks. “There’s no way you can be a head coach, offensive coordinator and a position coach with two inexperienced sophomore quarterbacks, and my effectiveness showed it last year.”

“The whole team concept got away from me and I don’t think our quarterback play or offensive performance was any better than it had been in years previous.”

Kramer blamed his hands-on approach, which had a negative effect on certain members of his staff who felt under-utilized, to his own immaturity and insecurity.

“I think when you’re a head coach at this level, particularly in the early years, you feel like you want to have more control over your situation,” he explained. “But in my case, both J.D. Sollars and Jerry Graybeal have more Big Sky coaching experience than I do. They’re both excellent coaches and they know what the heck they’re doing.

“Realistically speaking, it’s my job to give them what they need to do it and then get the hell out of the way.”

The new approach seemed to work well against Weber, even though the Eagles lost on a deflected Wildcat field goal with just 15 seconds left in the game.

Both the offensive and defensive game plans were sound and well-executed, especially for a season opener. And there were very few penalties resulting from a lack or organization or preparation.

“It’s a big change from last year,” Kramer admitted, “but I’m excited about it. I have no illusions. I’m not going back to what we used to do and I’m not going to second guess anybody.

“These guys are professionals and they have a job to do. My job from now on is to make sure they have the assets to do it.”

Coffin of coaches?

The Big Sky is hardly a safe haven for aspiring coaches hoping to pad their career records and move on to bigger and better things.

Case in point: Entering the 1996 season, Dave Arslanian was 40-38 in his seven years at Weber State. That translates to a modest winning percentage of .513, but it makes Arslanian the only coach with more than one year in the league who has won more games than he has lost.

Steve Axman is 33-33 (.500) at Northern Arizona, followed by Montana State’s Cliff Hysell (19-25, .432), Idaho State’s Brian McNeely (17-27, .386) and Eastern Washington’s Mike Kramer (7-15, .318).

But before anyone assumes the Big Sky is a weak league, consider this: The league records of the aforementioned veteran coaches are even worse than their overall marks.

Against Big Sky opponents, Arslanian is 23-29 (.442), Axman 17-27 (.386), Hysell 8-20 (.286), McNeely 8-20 (.286) and Kramer 3-11 (.214).

Mead reunion

Three Eastern Washington players, recruited out of Mead High School, will be reunited with a former teammate Saturday night when the Eagles travel to Boise State for a 6:05 non-conference matchup against the Broncos.

Former Panther standouts Griffin Garske, Rich Naccarato and Jeff Pilkington - all redshirt freshmen at Eastern - are expected to make the trip to Boise, where Todd Belcastro, a redshirt sophomore from Mead, has taken over the placekicking duties.

Belcastro, a former walk-on, red-shirted in 1994 and was a back up to senior Greg Erickson last season.

Family ties

There are obviously no rules against nepotism in the Big Sky. Idaho State coach Brian McNeely, for example, has his younger brother Brent working as his recruiting coordinator and running backs coach.

And at Weber State, Paul Arslanian serves as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for his older brother and head coach, Dave.

In addition, Bruce Read, the son of former Montana head coach Don Read, who retired after winning the NCAA Division I-AA national championship last fall, is a special teams assistant under first-year Grizzly coach Mick Dennehy, whose two sons, Jake and Mark, are on the UM roster.

, DataTimes