Tony Kramer’s impact on Greenbrier High School will be felt for years to come.
Kramer retired from coaching following the 2023 football season after leading the Wolfpack for nine years.
Greenbrier held a 31-62 record over that span, highlighted by three-straight Georgia High School Association state playoff appearances from 2018-2020. Perhaps his best coaching came in those final two seasons. The Wolfpack squeaked out a 32-29 win over Bradwell Institute in November, snapping a 21-game losing streak.
That stretch would have crumbled many other programs. For longtime Greenbrier supporter Shane Pangle, whose son, Brooks, played quarterback for Kramer until graduating in 2022, Kramer was the reason it didn’t.
“The one thing that I noticed throughout that whole time is that our team always played their hearts out. He had them prepared and they left everything out there on the field,” he said. “Didn’t matter if it was Ware County, Coffee County, Evans, or Lakeside. Our team responded so well and every week came out and gave it everything they had. I think he was the major cause for that and the kids couldn’t have had a better leader. He taught them much more than football.”
Along with his nine seasons as Greenbrier head coach, Kramer also served stints as an assistant coach at Greenbrier and Evans, along with 10 years as the head football coach at Columbia Middle School. While he made his bones as an experienced football coach, it was his ability to do it the right way off the field that endeared him to the students and surrounding community.
“Somewhere along the line, society has switched the price tag on the value of high school athletics. It’s all about winning. Where the focus should be is what Coach Kramer was doing,” Greenbrier athletic director Garrett Black said. “He always did things the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tony-kramers-impact-greenbrier-football-090046085.html
Author : The Augusta Chronicle
Publish date : 2024-01-23 09:00:46
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