Coach Kramer radio interview with boise station.

[lockanth]

http://www.ktik.com/2015/07/22/isu-coach-mike-kramer-talks-bengals-and-why-their-rise-is-because-of-uofi-recruiting/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Above is the link to the story. Very good stuff. Explains why he is going with Sanders as the starter and expresses his views on how to be successful in the big Sky. He also has some comments about University of idaho.

 

[Whatley_posse]

I heard this live yesterday what a great listen. Makes me really wanna root for the bengals. I went to my first ISU game last year and had a blast! I'm so excited for that program. I can't wait to come down to some games this year.

 

[Bengalfanatic2014]

I really enjoyed the interview as well. Makes me proud to be a bengal fan. I did find it interesting that he has been saying that he will not name a starter until the monday before the first game. However, in two interviews now he has stated that he will not play tanner as a freshman. He has a good point but if I were Tanner I would feel taken back. After coming off a good spring ball, what if he kills it in fall camp and out plays Sanders? I feel like you can't rule out Tanner yet. Great interview though.

 

[votb]

Tanner totally understands the situation. He knows that if Sanders doesn't pan out, he'll be the guy. He knows that if Sanders does work out, he'll learn at the feet of another QB that plays in the mold of Kevin Yost and Justin Arias...and what could be a better scenario to give yourself for your final two years than that? If Tanner HAS to play, he will play, but according to Coach K, Tanner understands the situation completely. He knows he gets a shot at competing for the job, but he also realizes his liability of lack of experience. If Sanders can get things rolling, Tanner will get the opportunities for experience in a back-up role. Nothing against James Delacensarie, but if they could have played Tanner as the back-up last year, they probably would have, but they couldn't burn an incredibly valuable redshirt year for 15-to-20 plays. Tanner's shackles are off now...he can go full steam, and if he's the kind of player we all think and hope he is, he'll be happy if the best thing for the Bengals is Sanders winning the job, and he'll be his best friend and shadow for the next two years.

GO BENGALS!

 

[boisebengal]

During yesterday's interview, Kramer mentioned that Delacensarie won't be playing football anymore, but he'll be studying engineering at the Univ. of Illinois, which has one of the better engineering programs in the country. Still though, as good as an athlete that he is, I assumed that he'd continue his football career at another school.

 

[up for the challenge]

A coach recruits to replace players. No guarantees as a player on a team as they are on a year to year scholarship. Personally, I do not like the idea of scholarship redshirting. It is a wasted scholarship in my opinion sitting out a season.

 

[Eric hollowell]

up for the challenge. you have to have redshirts. in my opinion the only time you don't is when there is a need that can filled ASAP or when you feel you might only have a kid for three years. I.E. pro player. you don't redshirt thinking you're going to lose a player you do it because you will have him for 5 years.

 

[up for the challenge]

Only if that redshirt player wants to stay for his 5th year as he could graduate in 4 years or the coach does not renew his scholarship which happens all of the time. The redshirt player is not under contract to play his 5th year. The freshmen that have their redshirt burned are in another boat. Most of them have to attend summer school at their own expense so they can graduate on time in 4 years as ISU will not pay for another year of scholarship without them being able to play. How many redshirt QB's have left the program the last 5 years and never played or only played a little bit after their redshirt year? We could have used that scholarship on a great Traditional Punter or another at need player that would have contributed immediately like a Michael Sanders or a Kevin Yost.

 

[Eric hollowell]

That's your opinion and its not wrong but you don't build programs on two year players. Even if a high school kid redshirts and plays three years that's still more than 2. Look at Josh Cook a red shirt already 2 years and 2015. Was it worth it? I think so

 

[up for the challenge]

Just my opinion as I believe most true freshmen on full scholarship want to play their freshmen year, compete in practice for a starting spot, and do not want to sit out a season. It is the NCAA rules, 5 years to play 4 so coaches have the right to redshirt a player if they want too. It is not about the true freshmen player wanting to redshirt as that is the decision of the coaches. I agree with you about transfers as they are AT NEED players just like a Michael Sanders as Kramer does not want to start a redshirt freshmen at QB without experience. I hope Gueller as well as other redshirt freshmen gets some quality playing time this season to showcase their talents.

 

[votb]

Well, I hope they get to "showcase their talents", too, but not at the expense of winning games. Most of the redshirts will get their initial opportunities playing on special teams. It's kind of like minimum wage jobs being meant for most people getting their first jobs...they get a chance to develop skills and prove their dependability. After that they can either move up the ladder, or move to another workplace now having created a resume' proving they can do the job, at which point they should make more per hour (i.e., get more playing time).
Sometimes this topic wearies me. :dead: Most players absolutely need the time to develop. Coach K has also made it abundantly clear from the day he arrived that he fully expects most players to be in the program for about a thousand days before they become significant contributors. Of course, there will be others who may have opportunities to prove themselves before that (i.e., Mario Jenkins, Hagen Graves), but generally speaking this is how Kramer builds winners. He's done it at EWU and Montana State, and appears to be doing it here. His system seems to be working. Of course, we could always go back to the 2-and-3 win seasons so everyone gets fair playing time, but I believe that it's more likely than not that every freshman that decides to play for Coach K at ISU gets an explanation of how Kramer does business. I seriously doubt there are very many freshmen that are promised "starting" jobs if they'll just come to ISU...maybe on a rare occasion, but not generally.

 

[Skippy]

Mario Jenkins is the perfect example of a beneficial redshirt. He came in as a running back, redshirted, learned a new position and was one of the better "freshmen" in the country last year. Not everybody needs a redshirt season -- but most players do.

 

[Eric hollowell]

Up for the Challenge as do I and you might see a few true Fr play this year because of need more than anything else. I also do not agree with Coach that sitting and watching makes you better, I believe doing is the best teacher. But again he knows what he is doing and I trust him.

 

[spudbowl]

This is a very interesting interview. Years ago, Kramer apparently said that he would never coach at ISU because Pocatello did not have a built in recruiting base like other schools. Now, he has the entire state. I think that I understood that Boise was now open because BSU is a big time school but I did not think about northern Idaho, etc. I don't know if I would have tipped my hand this much by pushing UI's buttons but Kramer is certainly happy about who he can now recruit to Pocatello.

 

[Skippy]

The Boise Valley and Wahington state -- two areas that Idaho used to recruit heavily -- have become much more fertile recruiting grounds since Boise State has moved up, and Idaho has tried to recruit at a higher level. As Mike noted, four of ISU's preseason all conference players are from Idaho, and three are from western Idaho.

It is a fascinating interview from many different angles. Most entertaining is that Kramer says what he thinks: Idaho State's defense was bad and must get better if ISU is going to contend this year; the Big Sky is no longer one of the elite conferences in FCS football; Idaho isn''t recruiting the same quality QBs as they were in their Big Sky days, etc. He doesn't sugarcoat anything, even it might serve his purposes to do so. That makes him a fun guy to root for, although I know it also hacks off a lot of fans and coaches from other schools. But hey, there's nothing wrong with that.