KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Roy Kramer, the Maryville-born sixth commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and former Vanderbilt University athletics director, has died. He was 96.

Kramer headed up the SEC from 1990 to 2002, overseeing the conference’s additions of South Carolina and Arkansas. He also created the SEC Football Championship Game and was a founding chairman for the Bowl Championship Series. That series laid the groundwork for how college football champions are crowned today.

Prior to his time with the SEC, Kramer earned degrees at Maryville College and the University of Michigan. During his tenure at Maryville, he played in the first-ever Tangerine Bowl, now the Citrus Bowl.

Kramer spent nearly a decade coaching Michigan high school teams before being named head coach at C

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