Looking more and more like Kramer.
Smith out of picture; Kramer may be Idaho's top candidate
By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer
Montana State head football coach Mike Kramer had a phone interview with University of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear on Tuesday morning regarding the coaching vacancy at the Moscow school.
Then it was back to usual mid-December business: watching game tape and making recruiting visits.
"I had a one-hour conversation with the University of Idaho," Kramer said in the afternoon before making a recruiting stop in Belgrade. "Just a get-to-know-you. And when that ended, they said they'd get back to me."
For the second time this year, Kramer is one of the leading candidates at Idaho, which is without a coach again after Dennis Erickson left for Arizona State on Saturday.
It appears Kramer now is the top candidate after former Idaho and Michigan State head coach John L. Smith has pulled his name out of consideration, according to the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash.
The paper also reported that in addition to Kramer, Idaho interviewed Washington State defensive coordinator Robb Akey.
In February, Kramer was second to Erickson. Although Kramer visited Moscow then to speak with Spear, he called that interview "preliminary."
This time, Idaho's interest is more serious, especially after Erickson bolted so quickly.
"This is now formal," Kramer said. "Idaho wants to do a thorough evaluation, so I can't begrudge them. Maybe they moved too fast last time."
Spear said in an e-mail Tuesday that hiring a coach for the long term is important. He was quoted earlier this week as saying that a significant buyout clause will be built into the contract.
"There are no guarantees on how long anyone will stay," Spear said Tuesday, "but we will require that certain provisions be placed in the contract to make it difficult to leave."
When the Idaho position was open in February, the school was prepared to offer a five-year contract worth $250,000 per year. Spear said Tuesday that his contract package this time would be "negotiable."
The most Montana State can offer is a three-year deal with significantly less money. Kramer's current one-year contract expires June 30, 2007, and the school has until Dec. 31 to notify coaches if their contracts aren't going to renewed.
If Idaho makes an offer to Kramer, "we'll have to discuss it and follow through from there," MSU athletic director Peter Fields said Tuesday from his office. "The money is nowhere near ... we can't come close to that. We can sweeten the pot some, but I can't say that we can get to where Idaho is."
Other factors that may pull Kramer to Moscow are that both he and his wife, Sandi, are from the area and that Kramer played his college ball at Idaho. The Kramers also have a home in Coeur d'Alene.
Kramer, who took an MSU team that was 0-11 his first year in 2000 to three Big Sky Conference championships over the past five years, also is enticed by the fact that Idaho (4-8 this past season) hasn't had a winning season since 1999. Plus, the Vandals' primary rival in the Western Athletic Conference is Boise State, which has turned into a national power and has the edge in attendance and resources, an advantage much like Montana enjoys over Montana State.
Kramer also took an Eastern Washington program that was 13-20 in his first three seasons and turned it into a Big Sky champ and a national semifinalist in 1997. It's that underdog role that he relishes.
"I love what we've achieved here and we're not done," he said, "but there's an opportunity there (Idaho), in a conference that's made some strides."
Kramer was not shy in explaining his desire to coach at Idaho.
"It's something that I'm very much interested in," he said. "I'm not really torn; I haven't been offered the job at Idaho. I don't have to make the decision yet. I think I'm a worthy candidate.
"If Idaho has the ability to pay me that kind of money and give me a five-year contract, well then that's beyond the resources that is going to be allowed by Montana State and the university system."
Fields added that his hands are tied at this point.
"You hope that it's a good thing when somebody wants to come and hire your coach," he said. "I'm not in the process, I'm a bystander. I'm sitting back watching from afar."
