Naples coach cleared of recruiting charges

The penalites for violating Policy 36 in the Florida High School Athletic Association handbook regarding “undue influence” in recruiting are cut and dried: fines, loss of practices and spring games, and probation.

Golden Gate and Palmetto Ridge’s football programs dealt with the same consequences last year when Bill Grey, then the associate director for the FHSAA who handles compliance, ruled that both high schools were in violation.

Amid all the recruiting chaos stood Naples High football coach Bill Kramer.

In October, an investigation was conducted by Collier County Assistant Superintendent Dr. Eric Williams into allegations brought upon Kramer.

Williams’ investigation looked into whether or not Kramer was recruiting Jonathon Stevenson, a Golden Gate sophomore at the time, who was visiting the school with a former Naples High student.

Kramer denied the accusations and in the end, Williams said there was no evidence he violated an FHSAA or board policy.

“I did have concerns about what had occurred,” Williams said. “So, I reiterated some expectations for Mr. Kramer as it relates to board policies and the FHSAA.”

The memory of those accusations is 10 months old, but Kramer brings it back with a keen perspective. He said allegations are inevitable when something is misunderstood or misinterpreted.

Last season, the Golden Eagles finished with a 6-5 record. During Kramer’s previous seven seasons as coach, Naples won a Class 5A state title in 2001 and steadily raised the level of expectations for its football program.

Kramer said success can make any football program a target.

“We were 3-7 my first year and everybody loved you and nobody accused you of anything,” he said. “The truth of it is, I don’t know who said I did what. You never know. The bottom line is the people around me, my staff, my players, if one of them had an issue with me, that might hurt.

“If somebody at a rival school says something about me ... it’s not an issue really.”

On the other hand, Kramer said the issue of recruiting or facing allegations is always going to be a cause for concern in high school athletics.

Prior to the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, Grey came down from Gainesville and gave a workshop to help heighten awareness of various recruiting issues.

Williams said schools in Collier County can avoid violations by attending those types of workshops and developing a better understanding of FHSAA policies, which is something he feels the district has done well.

Emphasizing the importance of following those rules and board policies can also help promote compliance with state bylaws, Williams said.

“The most prominent example of an infraction would be the recent over-aged students at Immokalee High School,” he said. “Each high school principal is responsible for enforcing FHSAA rules at their school, including eligibility rules. The activities coordinator at each school plays a key role in that enforcement, but it’s the principals who are ultimately responsible.”

In addition to the recruiting investigation that took place in October, Naples High also self-reported to the FHSAA a possible rules violation involving the videotaping of a freshman football game between Immokalee and Golden Gate.

Jeff Hanlon, an assistant coach on last year’s Golden Eagles football team who was accussed of taping the first half of the game, was suspended by the school until a further decision was made by the FHSAA.

It states in page 10, section 110 of the FHSAA football manual that photographing, filming and taping of a contest your team is not participating in is a violation unless permission is granted by the principals of both competing schools.

According to a statement written by Naples High principal Rosanne Winter that appeared in a previous article in the Naples Daily News regarding the incident, the game was taped by a friend of Hanlon’s, Michael Steinberg, who isn’t affiliated with the Golden Eagles football program.

Winter’s letter also stated that the tape of the freshman game was handed to Hanlon, who then attempted to destroy it when confronted by Golden Gate football coaches.

During an interview with a Naples Daily News reporter in October, Sonny Hester, the FHSAA’s senior director of athletic activities and officials, said filming can be construed as scouting.

“It’s in our book, coaches are not allowed to use mechanical devices,” Hester said. “They need to use paper and pencil and their brains.”

Hester said in the article that it’s common for schools to trade tapes, but freshman games aren’t usually filmed. He also stated that there is minimum fine of $100 for a rules violation.

Naples High athletic director Ernie Modugno submitted a letter to the FHSAA for clarification in October and the school was applauded by Hester for self-reporting and suspending the coach.

Kramer said the football program was not sanctioned by the FHSAA and that Hanlon has since moved on to coach at Estero High School.

Hester was unavailable to comment on the final decision.

- - -

An article written in October by Naples Daily News staff writer Tom Hanson contributed to this report.