Aaron Kromer (born April 30, 1967) is an American football coach who is the offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Kromer served as the interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints for the first six games of the 2012 season.
| Buffalo Bills | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive line coach |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | April 30, 1967 Sandusky, Ohio, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Castalia (OH) Margaretta |
| College: | Miami (OH) |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Head coaching record | |
| Regular season: | 2–4 (.333) |
| Record at Pro Football Reference | |
Playing career
editKromer is a 1985 graduate of Margaretta High School in Castalia, Ohio, where he played football and basketball. He played offensive tackle for three seasons at Miami University from 1987 to 1989.[1]
Coaching career
editKromer began his NFL coaching career in 2001 with the Oakland Raiders. In 2003, he helped lead the Raiders to an AFC championship and to Super Bowl XXXVII. Kromer was hired by the New Orleans Saints in 2008 as the running backs coach, before becoming the offensive line coach the following season. Under his tenure as OL coach, the Saints sent five players to a combined nine Pro Bowls, and tied for the fewest sacks in the league with 96.[1] Under Kromer, the Saints line twice won the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award as the best offensive line in the league (in 2009 and 2011).[2] The Saints won Super Bowl XLIV with Kromer. He filled in as the Saints' interim head coach for the first six games of the 2012 NFL season as Joe Vitt and Sean Payton served their suspensions for "BountyGate".[3] The Saints went 2-4 during that season-opening stretch, losing each of their first four games by eight points or less.
On January 16, 2013, Kromer was announced as the new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears. He joined Marc Trestman's initial coaching staff, after working with Trestman in Oakland.[4] In his first year, the Bears offense had the second-best scoring offense in the league with 445 points, behind the Denver Broncos, while finishing fifth with 4281 passing yards.[5] The offense also broke team records in total yards (6,109), passing yards (4,450), passing touchdowns (32) and first downs (344).[6] On February 12, 2014, offensive line assistant Pat Meyer was named offensive line coach while Kromer, who served as offensive coordinator and line coach in 2013, remained the offensive coordinator and continued to be involved in all aspects of the offense, including the line with an increased role with the passing game.[7]
On January 17, 2015, the Buffalo Bills reached a two-year deal with Kromer to be the team's new offensive line coach.[8] He was later suspended for 6 games by the Buffalo Bills from an incident in which he and his son were accused of striking a group of minors; Kromer himself allegedly punched a boy in the face and threatened to kill his family in an argument over beach chairs. Two weeks later all charges were dropped against Kromer, at the request of the victims and as a part of a civil settlement.[9]
On January 30, 2018, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay promoted him to run game coordinator, after Matt LaFleur left to become the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. In order to help fill the void, McVay also named tight ends coach Shane Waldron the pass game coordinator. In 2019 Kromer helped coach the Rams to an NFC Championship and to Super Bowl LIII. Kromer was not retained by the Rams as a coach in February 2021.[10]
On February 7, 2022, the Buffalo Bills signed Kromer as their new offensive line coach.[11]
Head coaching record
edit| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| NO* | 2012 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | - | - | - | - | ||
* – Interim head coach
References
edit
- ^ a b Mayer, Larry (January 16, 2013). "Bears hire Kromer as offensive coordinator, line coach". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- ^ Sheldon Mickles, "Bears hire Aaron Kromer as offensive coordinator" Archived October 4, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Advocate.
- ^ "Aaron Kromer logical fit as interim II coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- ^ Seligman, Andrew (January 16, 2013). "AP Source: Kromer new Bears offensive coordinator". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ "NFL Team Total Offense Statistics – 2013". ESPN. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Mayer, Larry (January 8, 2014). "Long named to PFF All-Rookie Team". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ Mayer, Larry (February 12, 2014). "Bears promote Meyer, hire Kim". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
- ^ Mello, Igor (January 17, 2015). "Report: Bills sign ex-Bears OC Aaron Kromer to two-year deal". Cbssports.com. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
- ^ Rodak, Mike (July 31, 2015). "Charges against Bills assistant coach Aaron Kromer, dropped". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ Klein, Gary (February 18, 2021). "Another coach, Aaron Kromer, is leaving Sean McVay's Rams staff". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ Wojton, Nick (February 7, 2022). "Bills bring Aaron Kromer back as offensive line coach". billswire.usatoday.com. Retrieved June 6, 2022.