Coach Bill Kramer

Head Coach

Quarterbacks and Running Backs

At Naples High, as the saying goes, “Tradition Never Graduates.” The Golden Eagle football tradition is well documented. The 96 wins that Kramer and his staff have compiled the last ten years ranks them number one in total wins in Naples High’s 57 years of football tradition. The past seven years the Golden Eagles have compiled a winning percentage of over 86%. Naples fans make our teams especially tough at home; the Golden Eagles have only lost five games at home since 2000.

In 2001, Naples High won the first ever football championship in the history of southwest Florida. Naples High astounded pundits around the state, in 2002, with a 12-2 record and an appearance in the state semi-final game against eventual state champion Pompano Beach Ely. The 2003 season found the Golden Eagles with a hard-earned 13-2 record and a return to the State Finals. In 2004, the Naples High School football team tore through the record books; with the Dollar Defense and fast break offense they outscored their opponents 395 -56 en route to a perfect regular season. The 2005 Golden Eagle squad had much to overcome after sending seven coaches on to represent the Golden Eagle tradition at other venues throughout the country. Despite this, and with arguably the toughest schedule in Florida, the Golden Eagles boasted one of the stingiest defenses and the number one offense in yards per game in southwest Florida. After winning a hard fought Kick-off classic, the 2006 Golden Eagle football team went on to win 11 games and the fifth district title in the last six years. Naples state title run ended against eventual state champion Glade Central High School in the 2006 Regional Championship; a game that many consider to be one of the greatest games in southwest Florida history. 2007 was a season for the ages. Naples High Football completed a historical season being the first team in the history of Southwest Florida to finish undefeated and win a State Championship. The 2007 squad set records for most points scored in a season and fewest points allowed.

If success is measured by what happens after high school, it is worthy to note that in the last seven years over 90 percent of senior football players at Naples High have gone on to college. Many of these young men chose to continue both their academic and athletic careers. This fall, there will be more than 40 Naples High football players lining up on college gridirons… truly remarkable.

Bill Kramer is beginning his eleventh season at Naples High. The awards he has accepted on behalf of his staff, players, and school during that time are impressive. In 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007 Coach Kramer was named the FHSAA district coach of the year. In 2001, he was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow medal by the Naples Rotary, and was awarded the inaugural Naples High School “Coach of the Year Award”. In 2002, Coach Kramer was chosen by N Magazine as one of the inaugural “Ten Men of Distinction” in Collier County, and he was awarded F. C. A.’s Nick Hyder award at Black Mountain, North Carolina. In 2003, Coach Kramer received the State Farm “Good Neighbor Coaches Sportsmanship Award”. During that same year, both the Naples Daily News and the Fort Myers News-Press honored Coach Kramer with their Coach of the Year award. That year the Florida Sportwriters in conjunction with the Florida Athletic Coaches Association named Bill Kramer “Coach of the Year” for the 5A classification and eventually for the entire state of Florida. In 2005, Coach Kramer was once again honored with F.C.A.’s Nick Hyder Award at Black Mountain, North Carolina, and in 2006 Coach Kramer appeared in American Football Monthly, listed as one of their “Young Guns”, one of the top six coaches under the age of 45 in the state of Florida. In 2007 Coach Kramer was honored as the Florida Sports Writer’s 3A Coach of the Year, the News-Press Coach of the Year and the Naples Daily News Coach of the Year. In addition Coach Kramer was elected to chair the F.H.S.A.A. football advisory committee and was also the only high school coach in America chosen to serve on the American Football Coaches Association’s (A.F.C.A.) Public Relations Committee. Coach Kramer was also honored to be published in the A.F.C.A. 2007 Summer Manual.

Bill Kramer is a graduate of Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia) where he majored in Health and Physical Education while lettering three years as a wide receiver. He also holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale) and a Masters degree in Guidance and Counseling from Saint Thomas University (Miami). He is actively involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Southwest Florida and has been a guest speaker and/or clinician for countless schools, universities, professional and civic groups. Bill and his wife, Susan, have three lovely daughters; Katie age 15, Courtney age 14, Kelly age 10.