Green Bay Reporter

The Green Bay Packers have announced Tyler Kramer of Wausau East High School in Wausau, Wisconsin, as the recipient of their High School Coach of the Week award. In his second year as head coach, Kramer has led the Lumberjacks to the WIAA Football Playoffs for the first time in 12 years and will host their first playoff game since 2007. This achievement comes after a challenging period where the team played 8-man football in 2021 and couldn't field a varsity roster in 2022.

Kramer noted that last year's experience was pivotal for this year's success. "Last year we went 2-7 and made a lot of progress on things," he said. "I think going into the offseason knowing that this is different now, guys having the varsity experience and knowing that we don't have the excuse of not playing varsity anymore [helped with this year's turnaround]."

Off-field efforts are also important to Kramer, who encourages students to engage with their community through volunteering. "I think just encouraging them to be involved in anything that they can," he said. "We've kind of hit the ground running with that stuff."

A Wausau native and Wausau East alumnus, Kramer began coaching at his alma mater as a volunteer freshman assistant coach in 2018 before becoming head coach in 2023. Despite receiving personal recognition, he attributes success to collective effort: "It's an honor... It's really just showing off the community, the kids and everybody's hard work that's gone into this season."

Kramer manages around 80 players with assistance from Dan Garrett, Kong Meng Xiong, Nathan Kramer, Brady Schmidt, Anthony Marquardt, Zak Kachel, Dave Blaskowski, Dave Coenen and Tom McCormick.

The Green Bay Packers' Coach of the Week program recognizes outstanding high school coaches during each football season week. Winners receive several benefits including a $1,000 donation to their school's football program courtesy of both the Packers and NFL Foundation.

Nominations for future awards should be submitted by Monday mornings to Jake Krueger at coachoftheweek@packers.com with relevant details about deserving candidates.