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COLUMN: ISU’s Kramer Embraces I.F. Fans
By: Mike Lycklama, Post Register
Collin Andrus’ exposed curly locks said it all.
The Idaho Falls High School senior signed his letter of intent to play football at Idaho State on Wednesday. But unlike his teammate Marcus Poling, who signed to play at Army, Andrus couldn’t don the school’s hat in the ceremonial moment.
Not that he didn’t try.
His family searched Idaho Falls for an ISU hat just for the ceremony but struck out. Idaho Falls coach Chuck Johnson told them where they might find one, but the message was clear: Idaho State football doesn’t matter in Idaho Falls.
How else do you explain that the first recruit Idaho State coach Mike Kramer visited upon getting the job couldn’t find the hat of a Division I university 50 miles away?
The harsh, but underlying, truth of the matter is during the past decade, Idaho State may have well been 1,000 miles away. That’s what it felt like in Idaho Falls.
Kramer is looking to change that.
The veteran coach met with a group of about 25 supporters Thursday at the Hard Hat Steakhouse & Grill in Idaho Falls to show off his first recruiting class. But more important than any highlight he showed of a recruit was his mere presence.
In my three and a half years as a reporter at the Post Register, I don’t know of one time former Idaho State coach John Zamberlin set foot in Idaho Falls for an event like the one Thursday. Never once did he reach out to a fan base of 50,000-plus people just 50 miles away from his campus.
Combine that with a laughable performance on the field and you have a market that has abandoned the school. For fans in Idaho Falls, Boise State and BYU obviously rank ahead of Idaho State. But so does Idaho, Utah, Utah State and, you could argue, even Montana and Montana State.
At the Post Register, we’ve cut over coverage of Idaho State to nearly nonexistent the past three years. We go to home games, and that’s about it. We expected to hear it from our readers, but you know what we’ve heard?
Absolute silence.
We haven’t heard a single complaint.
The questions we do hear center around, “Why don’t you go to more Boise State/BYU games,” “Why don’t you give Utah/Utah State more space” and “You need to stop covering Idaho State so much and cover more high school girls soccer?”
Kramer seemed genuinely stunned when I told him that. As a Big Sky Conference lifer who has coached at Eastern Washington and Montana State, he always considered Idaho Falls and Pocatello the same community.
“To me, this is just the eastern half of Pocatello,” he said. “I’m shocked that we haven’t had much of a presence here. I’m shocked because, to me, this is around the corner, over the hill.”
But he has a two-pronged solution to fight the malaise.
First, he will be a constant figure around town. He said he plans to be in Idaho Falls every Monday during the season, hosting pay-for-access meetings with supporters to break down game film, share that week’s game plans and answer any and all questions.
“If you have interest, that means you’ll have questions,” Kramer said. “If you have a question, I have an answer. And I’ll give you the right reason. I won’t give you coach speak and I will not give anybody some patent, hidden-agenda answer.”
The meet-and-greets won’t be limited to Idaho Falls. He plans to spends Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the road all season, hosting events with fans from Idaho Falls to Pocatello to Twin Falls to Boise.
It’s a trait he picked up at Montana State, where he traveled to Butte, Billings, Helena, Great Falls and Missoula on a regular basis. And those towns are a lot farther away than 50 miles up I-15.
Kramer admits the second prong is the most crucial – winning.
Without a winner, Idaho State will never be the program of Idaho Falls, Blackfoot or Rexburg. It’ll always bring up the rear.
And for all the hands that he shakes and smiles he gives, that’s the sticking point that remains to be seen.
By: Mike Lycklama, Post Register
Collin Andrus’ exposed curly locks said it all.
The Idaho Falls High School senior signed his letter of intent to play football at Idaho State on Wednesday. But unlike his teammate Marcus Poling, who signed to play at Army, Andrus couldn’t don the school’s hat in the ceremonial moment.
Not that he didn’t try.
His family searched Idaho Falls for an ISU hat just for the ceremony but struck out. Idaho Falls coach Chuck Johnson told them where they might find one, but the message was clear: Idaho State football doesn’t matter in Idaho Falls.
How else do you explain that the first recruit Idaho State coach Mike Kramer visited upon getting the job couldn’t find the hat of a Division I university 50 miles away?
The harsh, but underlying, truth of the matter is during the past decade, Idaho State may have well been 1,000 miles away. That’s what it felt like in Idaho Falls.
Kramer is looking to change that.
The veteran coach met with a group of about 25 supporters Thursday at the Hard Hat Steakhouse & Grill in Idaho Falls to show off his first recruiting class. But more important than any highlight he showed of a recruit was his mere presence.
In my three and a half years as a reporter at the Post Register, I don’t know of one time former Idaho State coach John Zamberlin set foot in Idaho Falls for an event like the one Thursday. Never once did he reach out to a fan base of 50,000-plus people just 50 miles away from his campus.
Combine that with a laughable performance on the field and you have a market that has abandoned the school. For fans in Idaho Falls, Boise State and BYU obviously rank ahead of Idaho State. But so does Idaho, Utah, Utah State and, you could argue, even Montana and Montana State.
At the Post Register, we’ve cut over coverage of Idaho State to nearly nonexistent the past three years. We go to home games, and that’s about it. We expected to hear it from our readers, but you know what we’ve heard?
Absolute silence.
We haven’t heard a single complaint.
The questions we do hear center around, “Why don’t you go to more Boise State/BYU games,” “Why don’t you give Utah/Utah State more space” and “You need to stop covering Idaho State so much and cover more high school girls soccer?”
Kramer seemed genuinely stunned when I told him that. As a Big Sky Conference lifer who has coached at Eastern Washington and Montana State, he always considered Idaho Falls and Pocatello the same community.
“To me, this is just the eastern half of Pocatello,” he said. “I’m shocked that we haven’t had much of a presence here. I’m shocked because, to me, this is around the corner, over the hill.”
But he has a two-pronged solution to fight the malaise.
First, he will be a constant figure around town. He said he plans to be in Idaho Falls every Monday during the season, hosting pay-for-access meetings with supporters to break down game film, share that week’s game plans and answer any and all questions.
“If you have interest, that means you’ll have questions,” Kramer said. “If you have a question, I have an answer. And I’ll give you the right reason. I won’t give you coach speak and I will not give anybody some patent, hidden-agenda answer.”
The meet-and-greets won’t be limited to Idaho Falls. He plans to spends Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays on the road all season, hosting events with fans from Idaho Falls to Pocatello to Twin Falls to Boise.
It’s a trait he picked up at Montana State, where he traveled to Butte, Billings, Helena, Great Falls and Missoula on a regular basis. And those towns are a lot farther away than 50 miles up I-15.
Kramer admits the second prong is the most crucial – winning.
Without a winner, Idaho State will never be the program of Idaho Falls, Blackfoot or Rexburg. It’ll always bring up the rear.
And for all the hands that he shakes and smiles he gives, that’s the sticking point that remains to be seen.
