RETURN to Sports Section / Monday, September 3, 2001
Kramer makes offers no one can refuseBOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
(Associated Press)
SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, at the conference's headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., has told league administrators that he plans to retire in December 2002.
FAYETTEVILLE -- Roy Kramer, the master negotiator who carries the unofficial title of most powerful man in college football, isn't offering any clues publicly about when he may retire as SEC commissioner.
The question comes up often considering Kramer is 71, but he addresses it with a smile and a shrug without being specific.
"I'll get through today and see what happens tomorrow," Kramer said in early August at SEC Media Days. "I work for the presidents [of the SEC schools] and they could vote me out at any time.
"We'll take a look as time goes by, and when the time comes to retire, I'll step down and be out of here. And that will be fine."
While Kramer deftly deflects questions about his future plans, Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles said the commissioner has indicated to administrators at SEC schools he plans to retire in December 2002.
"He may change his mind," Broyles said. "I hope he does change his mind. Everybody in the league hopes he does. We don't want to lose him."
SEC schools don't want to lose Kramer because under his guidance the conference is generating so much money for its members that the Mafia might be jealous. Francis Ford Coppola should consider making Godfather IV and have Kramer play himself.
"Roy Kramer is the Godfather," Cotton Bowl President Rick Baker said. "All of the conference commissioners are very powerful people, but Roy has been around the longest and that certainly gives him a lot of credibility and influence.
"From the Cotton Bowl's perspective, in any issue that comes up regarding college football, we make sure to touch base with Roy Kramer for his advice and counsel."
Kramer became SEC commissioner in January 1990, and the 10 member schools divided $16.3 million that was generated during the 1989-90 academic year.
Last June, after Kramer's 12th year as commissioner, the 12 SEC schools divided $78.1 million.
The SEC's revenue has increased dramatically during Kramer's tenure primarily because:
He oversaw an expansion in 1991 which added Arkansas and South Carolina to the conference and allowed for two six-team divisions and the creation of the SEC Championship Game in 1992.
He has negotiated bonanza football and basketball television packages with several networks.
He was the driving force behind the Bowl Championship Series, which has kept the current bowl structure intact and increased payouts. No conference benefits more from the bowl system than the SEC, which had eight teams in bowl games in 1999 and nine in 2000.
"Roy is a master negotiator," Broyles said. "Whenever he's brought in what the TV people have offered us for an SEC contract, I think, 'Boy, that's great, where do we sign?'
"But he says, 'I think we can get a little more.' And then he comes back and says, 'Well, I got a little more, but I think we can get even a little bit more.' And then he gets a little more again."
Broyles noted that in 1988 he had a secret meeting with SEC officials to let them know if the conference expanded, Arkansas wanted to be included and was ready to leave the Southwest Conference.
But the expansion plan and invitation for Arkansas didn't come until Kramer replaced Harvey Schiller as SEC commissioner after Schiller left for the United States Olympic Committee.
Roy Kramer
BORN Oct. 30, 1929, in Maryville, Tenn.
FAMILY Wife Sara Joe, three children, six grandchildren
EDUCATION Bachelor's degree from Maryville (Tenn.) in 1953, where he played football and was on the wrestling team. Master's degree from Michigan in 1954.
COACHING Assistant football coach Battle Creek (Mich.) HS 1954-55; Head coach Hudson (Mich.) HS 1956, Dowagiac (Mich.) HS 1957, Benton Harbor (Mich.) HS 1958-59, East Lansing (Mich.) HS 1960-64; Assistant coach Central Michigan University 1965-66, Head coach, Central Michigan 1967-77.
ADMINISTRATION Vanderbilt athletic director 1978-89, SEC commissioner 1990-present.
NCAA COMMITTEES Investment committee 1983-86; Select committee to study intercollegiate athletics 1984-86; Committee for national drug testing policy 1984-89; Men's committee on committees 1985-88; Men's basketball committee 1987-92; Special advisory committee to review distribution of revenue 1989-93; Basketball television negotiating committee 1989-93; Committee on infractions 1988-97; Coordinator of Bowl Championship Series 1995-99; Management council 1997-99.
"Roy thinks big and he's a visionary," Broyles said. "When he became SEC commissioner, he didn't take the job and just follow what had been done before. He took the job and took it to another level."
Broyles said that whenever SEC athletic directors have problems agreeing, Kramer can broker a compromise or make a final decision.
"On any issue that we cannot reach a majority, we just turn to Roy and say, 'Well what do you think?' " Broyles said "Then he settles it, because it's clear he's running the show.
"But he's running the show in a way that doesn't make people mad. He runs it in a way that everybody feels like they've got a part in it. But he's managing it. He's strong without being pushy."
FROM FEEBLE TO MIGHTY
Kramer became SEC commissioner after being Vanderbilt's athletic director for 12 years. It seems odd the school with the SEC's most feeble football program -- the Commodores' last winning season was 1982 -- would produce the commissioner, but it's hard to imagine a better hire the way things have worked out.
"One of my predecessors was the dean of arts and sciences at Georgia [H. Boyd McWhorter from 1972-86] and another was the governor of Mississippi [Martin Connor from 1940-46], so there's not a school of how you arrive in this situation," Kramer said. "I don't think you can take sports administration 101 and learn how to manage a program.
"I think most of it is a hands-on-experience type of thing. I think having been a high school coach, a college coach, an athletic director, is where you really get your education."
Kramer was all of those things before taking over as SEC commissioner.
After graduating from Maryville (Tenn.) College and earning a master's degree at Michigan, Kramer got a job as an assistant coach at Battle Creek (Mich.) High School in 1954. He then was a head coach at four Michigan high schools and was an assistant and head coach at Central Michigan. He moved into athletic administration at Vanderbilt in 1978.
While at Vanderbilt, he served on several NCAA committees, including those dealing with television negotiations, infractions and selecting teams for the basketball tournament. He even was chairman of something called the NCAA Committee on Committees from 1987-88.
"I think all the things Roy has done in high school and college athletics give him a unique background to be a great commissioner for the SEC," Baker said. "Especially when it comes to college football and what's good for the game and what's going to continue to help the game progress, he knows what needs to be done."
BOWLS BEST FOR FOOTBALL
Kramer is convinced the BCS, for which he was the coordinator from 1995-99, is best for college football even though many continue to clamor for a playoff system.
Florida Coach Steve Spurrier enjoyed poking fun at Kramer at SEC Media Days, wondering aloud before about 300 reporters -- and with Kramer standing in the back of the big room -- why the NCAA has championship playoffs in every sport except Division I-A football.
Kramer smiled while Spurrier had some fun at the commissioner's expense. But at a speaking engagement a few weeks later, Kramer returned a good-natured volley regarding the Gators' coach.
"My good friend Steve Spurrier wants a playoff, but when he has to play at Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 3, he's not going to be too fired up," Kramer said.
Kramer said he's convinced a football playoff would result in games being played at home sites and cause the demise of the bowls.
"For those of us who understand what it takes to keep colleges playing football, the bowl system is very critical," he said. "We've got to be very careful whatever we do -- and I've never said there will never be a playoff -- that we don't destroy what's good for a lot of schools that would never have an opportunity to be in a 16-team playoff."
Kramer pointed to South Carolina, which last season went 7-4 -- after going 0-11 in 1999 -- and then beat Ohio State in the Outback Bowl. This year, South Carolina sold out its season tickets -- more than 50,000 -- for the first time in school history.
"South Carolina wouldn't have been playing for a national championship last year, yet they went to a bowl game and won and got their people excited to the point they bought every season ticket available," Kramer said. "Now that's what keeps college football alive.
"You take that away from so many schools and only have 16 schools involved in a national playoff and you're going to destroy college football. That's part of what the BCS is about."
Kramer said the BCS -- which uses a complicated system based on polls, computer rankings, records, strength of schedules and scoring margins to produce a matchup of the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams at the end of the season -- also is designed to maintain the importance of regular-season games.
"A lot of people don't get interested in college basketball until the NCAA Tournament, and we can't afford to do that in college football," Kramer said. "The Alabama-Tennessee game, the Georgia-Florida game, the Texas-Oklahoma game, the Michigan-Ohio State game, if we destroy the significance of those games, you're going to destroy college football. ... We've got the keep the regular season viable."
Kramer said he's gotten far more complaints from fans and media about the BCS than he ever did when he was on the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee, but he pointed to increased attendance and television ratings for most bowl games and national attention paid to the BCS rankings as proof the system is working.
"Do you have a little bit of discussion, a little bit of argument? Certainly. But that's great," Kramer said. "People are talking about college football.
"There's nothing better than in November when everybody is arguing about who was going to be in the No. 1-No. 2 game."
A MAN OF POWER
Kramer's creation of the BCS added to his reputation as "the most powerful man in college football," as The Sporting News referred to him in a July article.
"I don't get hung up on that stuff," Kramer said. "That's the least of my concerns."
Broyles said it's not important whether Kramer is the most powerful man in college football, but that he's made the SEC the most powerful conference in the country.
"What we want is someone that makes our conference the most powerful, and that's what Roy's done," Broyles said. "You judge him not by his power, but the power of the conference he's built while he's the leader."
Kramer, whose annual financial package as SEC commissioner pays him more than $300,000, keeps building up the conference's resources with his busy schedule and working long hours.
"I'm not laying down," Kramer said. "I don't take a nap in the afternoon."
Baker said he continues to be impressed by Kramer's energy level and attention to detail.
"I don't see him slowing down at all, I think his mind is as sharp as ever," Baker said. "We would certainly hope he never retires."
