An interview with Naples football legend, Coach Bill Kramer
NAPLES, Fla. — Bill Kramer is former head coach of the Naples High School football program (1998-2019). He left a stable job and promising career as head coach of Miami-Dade’s American High School to take on the challenge of turning around Naples High’s Golden Eagles, which some say had entered a near two-decade slump after legendary Coach Dick Pugh’s departure in 1980.
Against all odds—limited funds, a dispirited team, and wavering support—Coach Kramer compiled a team of players and staff that led Naples High to win two State Championships and dozens of Regional and District championships. The 216-51 record that the Golden Eagles held under Coach Kramer’s leadership ranks them number one in total wins and winning percentage in the over 70 years of Naples High School’s football tradition.
Coach Kramer retired from coaching after a 33-year run in 2019. This August, he published a memoir, Great Day…Today!, detailing the four-year journey that transformed a losing team into State Champions. Below, Kramer answers some questions about this fascinating come-back story and speaks more about the three things nearest his heart: Faith, Family, and Football.
1) Coach Kramer, first off, what is your own background in this sport?
I loved football for as long as I can remember. I played for the first time in sixth grade for the Raiders of the Pop Warner League in Arizona, where I grew up. I continued with the sport, playing varsity with the Yuma High Criminals, and eventually was a three-year letterman wide receiver at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
2) What brought you from Lynchburg to Miami?
I met the love of my life during my junior year at Liberty. My wife Sue is a seventh generation Floridian, so I didn’t have much of a choice other than chasing her down to Miami after we graduated from college.
3) Can you share something you learned while Head Coach of American High School in Miami?
I had the same sense of mission at American High that I had at Naples High. My biggest takeaway from American was given to me by legendary head football coach of Carol City High School, Walt Frazier. He told me that unless my administration really wanted to win championships, it would be impossible for me to compete consistently for them. Coach Frazier was exactly right.
4)What was the thought process behind trading a successful run at American High for the risky venture of a floundering Naples team in 1998?
Sue and I prayed and prayed about it. Even though we had to take a big pay cut, wait six months for health care (with three little girls—infant through five years old), and were going to a school with incredibly bad facilities, we knew God wanted us to move to Naples. The biggest carrot was this was an opportunity to hire a staff of guys who wanted to use football as a tool to grow great husbands, fathers, and leaders in our community.
6) What did you have your Naples team do in training that was key to their success?
We trained strength, speed, agility, and flexibility—year-round. But the biggest part of our success was the intentional leadership training we did with our guys.
7) Can you talk more about this “intentional leadership”?
The biggest part of intentional leadership is developing the habit of taking the focus off yourself. Instead of constantly self-monitoring (How do I feel? What do I need? What do I want?), look around at your family or team and monitor them and find ways to come alongside and help others.
8) What were some of your most memorable games?
The three state championships we played: In 2001, we won the state championship at Doak Campbell stadium (FSU); in 2003, we lost in the finals at The Swamp (U of F); and in 2007, we won the state championship at the Citrus Bowl (Orlando).
9) How did you encourage your team after a disappointing loss?
We never judge ourselves by the scoreboard, but by our vertical and horizontal relationships.
10) I love that term, “vertical relationships.” It’s evident
from your book, and frankly your whole coaching career, that faith has played an important role in your life. Can you speak more on that?
Everyone wants to be loved and to experience peace. The closer we draw to God, the more we live in that zone and the more we can be an agent of those things for those around us.
11) Describe your proudest coaching moment.
My proudest moments are when I see my guys, years later, being great husbands, fathers, and community leaders. The legacy is in the lives.
12) Your own family has played a central role in your life. How did they support you in your coaching career? How did you balance football and family?
My girls all knew that we were on mission as a family. When coaching is done right, it is not a job, it is a lifestyle. My girls understood and embraced this. The idea of balance is a bit of a misnomer. Sue cooked all the pregame meals, and our position players came over once a week for dinner. The girls helped as soon as they could hold a dinner roll. There isn’t really balance in the coaching lifestyle, but there are cycles in the year where a coach’s family can carve out time just for them.
13) You recently published Great Day…Today, which details a four-year period of your life. What was so important about that period in time?
I really felt compelled to write about that time as it was a period where we were really stepping out on faith as a family, and I wanted my daughters, and all the family to follow, to remember the story.
14) Who did you write your book for?
First and foremost, the book is a memoir for my four girls and all the family that grows and continues through them. I am also hoping the book is an encouragement to anyone who is in a hard place in their lives, especially when their feelings don’t match up with their commitments.
15) What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned from being a coach?
All we can control each day is our individual effort and attitude.
During his career, Coach Kramer was inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame (2016) and the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame (2017) among many other notable awards and recognitions. As one further, perhaps more compelling, metric of his success, over 90 percent of senior football players at Naples High School during Kramer’s tenure went on to college, served in the United States Armed Forces, or became first responders.
Coach Kramer and his wife Sue have four daughters, three sons-in-law, and two grandsons. He is actively involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Southwest Florida and is regularly a guest speaker and clinician for numerous schools, universities, professional, and civic groups. Coach Kramer resides in Naples with his family. His book, Great Day…Today! A True Story of Faith, Family, and Football, is available on Amazon or at www.coachkramer.us.
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