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Former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer, who became a pioneer of college football’s current playoff structure, has died at age 96, the conference announced.
Kramer served as commissioner of the SEC from 1990 to 2002 and built it into one of the richest conferences in the country during his tenure, primarily by negotiating lucrative television contracts. It began by adding Arkansas and South Carolina to the conference in 1991, a small preview of the massive expansion that has invaded college sports and athletics in the current era.
That allowed him to host the SEC title game, contributing to a growing source of media revenue. In Kramer’s final year, the SEC distributed $95.7 million to its 12 member schools, up from $16.3 million in 1990. In fiscal year 2023-24, the SEC distributed $808.4 million, a testament to the exponential growth of college sports that Kramer envisioned in the 1990s.
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Former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer speaks during a dedication ceremony for the Doug Dickey Hall of Fame Plaza at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex in Knoxville, Tenn., Friday, Oct. 4, 2019. (Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services)
Kramer defended the Bowl Championship Series system, which moved college football away from its long tradition of determining a champion through polls of media and coaches. The system was in place from 1998 to 2013, until the College Football Playoff was introduced. What originally started as a four-team playoff replaced the BCS in 2014 and expanded to 12 teams starting last season.
Kramer insisted that the vitriol that emerged from the BCS picks was not a blow to the system itself, but rather a welcome byproduct because it brought attention to college football.
The BCS has been “blamed for everything from El Niño to terrorist attacks,” Kramer joked in 2002 when announcing his retirement.
George MacIntyre, left, Vanderbilt’s new football coach, shares a moment with athletic director Roy Kramer after Kramer announced McIntyre’s hiring during halftime of Vanderbilt’s basketball game against the Citadel at Memorial Gym on Dec. 4, 1978. (Robert Johnson/The Tennessean)
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“Roy Kramer will be remembered for his determination in difficult times, his willingness to innovate in an industry driven by tradition and his unwavering belief in the value of student-athletes and education,” said current SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Born Roy Foster Kramer in Maryville, Tennessee, on October 30, 1929, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Maryville College, where he was a football lineman and wrestler. Kramer earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and served three years in the Army during the Korean War. He died in Vonore, Tennessee.
Former SEC Commissioner Roy Kramer speaks to reporters before the SEC Championship college football game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators at the Georgia Dome. (Brett Davis/USA Today Sports)
He coached football at five Michigan high schools before being named assistant coach at Central Michigan in 1965 and then head coach in 1967. Kramer was named national coach of the year in 1974 after leading Central Michigan to the Division II national championship and went 83-32-2 during 11 seasons in charge of the Chippewas. He ended his coaching career in 1978 when he became athletic director at Vanderbilt, where he worked until leaving for the SEC.
