Aaron Kromer Reportedly to Interview at Boston College

Mary Langenfeld-US PRESSWIRE

It has taken several days, but a real list of candidates is beginning to emerge for the Boston College football head coaching position.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported last night that Aaron Kromer, offensive line coach of the New Orleans Saints, will interview to be Frank Spaziani’s replacement. New Orleans is playing the Atlanta Falcons in a crucial Thursday Night Football game, so it stands to reason that he will not be available for an interview before Friday.

Kromer graduated from high school in 1985, which would put him at around 45 years old. He began his football coaching career in college and went to Miami of Ohio, the school from which Brad Bates came to BC. Kromer’s last college job was at Northwestern as an offensive line coach in the 2000 season before jumping to the NFL. He has been an assistant on the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Saints, joining Sean Payton’s staff as an assistant in 2008. Kromer has been the Saints’ offensive line coach since 2009, though he did serve six games as interim head coach at the start of the 2012 season.

This is not the sort of “splash” name we expected, but one must remember that Boston College is putting out feelers to all sorts of candidates, and many coaches have likely been contacted by now. Brad Bates is doing a great job giving the fans some insight into his hiring process and long-term vision, but he’s not going to give us a play-by-play of who he called and if they want to interview. Kromer just happens to be the first name to officially come up.

One point of some concern is that Kromer has not even so much as been an offensive coordinator, so the jump to a full-time head coach might be somewhat of a reach. His six-game stint as the Saints’ interim coach should not count because of small sample size, even with the fact that New Orleans was not good during that stretch. For all intents and purposes, this would be a new adventure for him.

It could be a courtesy interview to help him garner more interest for NFL openings, it could be done as a favor to Pete Carmichael, Jr., the BC alum and Saints offensive coordinator who seems to be dropping off the candidate list, or Kromer could truly be one of Bates’ top targets. One thing is clear, though: it would be surprising if Kromer was BC’s last candidate to interview. We’re just days into the process and if Bates is serious about a thorough search, we will learn about more coaches getting interviewed.