Hours after the Buffalo Bills suffered a crushing playoff defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos, losing 33-30 in overtime in the Divisional Round, news leaked that highly respected offensive line coach
Aaron Kromer is set to retire.
Kromer has coached in the NFL for parts of 24 seasons, dating back to the 2001 season. Before he began coaching in the NFL, he coached in the college ranks, starting as a graduate assistant with Miami of Ohio in 1990. He was promoted to the tight ends/H-Backs coach in 1992, a position he held through the 1997 season. In 1998, he was named Miami of Ohio’s offensive line coach; he then moved on to the same job at Northwestern in 1999 and 2000.
Kromer coached with Oakland (now Los Angeles) Raiders from 2001-2004. He began as the assistant offensive line coach under legendary offensive line coach Bill Callahan. After Callahan replaced Jon Gruden as head coach in 2002, Kromer was promoted to the offensive line coach that season. He moved on to a senior assistant position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005, reuniting with Gruden from 2005-2007.
He left Tampa Bay for the New Orleans Saints in 2008, where he worked with then-Saints head coach Sean Payton, the current head coach for the Broncos. He was the running backs coach in 2008 before having dual responsibilities as the running backs coach-slash-offensive line coach from 2009-2012. In that final season with the Saints, he added interim head coach to his title thanks to Payton’s involvement in Bountygate, a scandal that involved New Orleans coaches offering bonuses for injuring opposing players.
Kromer left the Saints and went to work as the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014 under head coach Marc Trestman. The Bears were eighth in yards and second in scoring during the 2013 season, but the offense cratered the following year. Chicago was just twenty-first in yards and twenty-third in points, and when Trestman was fired at the end of the year, Kromer moved elsewhere.
“Elsewhere” was up to Buffalo, as head coach Rex Ryan hired Kromer as his offensive line coach. Kromer spent two years on staff with the Bills. He was suspended for six games following a bizarre incident where Kromer and his son allegedly struck a group of minors in an argument over beach chairs. Kromer was not retained by the Bills following Ryan’s dismissal and the end of the 2016 season.
Kromer then moved on to the Los Angeles Rams, as he was their offensive line coach from 2017 through the 2020 season. In 2019 and 2020, he carried the added title of run game coordinator. Kromer was not retained following the 2020 season. He took a year off from coaching before returning to the Bills for the 2022 season.
During Kromer’s most recent tenure in Buffalo, the Bills’ offensive line has consistently been among the NFL’s best. Kromer has overseen the development of players like Spencer Brown, O’Cyrus Torrence, Alec Anderson, and Ryan Van Demark. He’s also helped veterans like Dion Dawkins, David Edwards, and Conor McGovern to grow into the best versions of themselves.
Kromer was on three Super Bowl coaching staffs, winning one in 2009 with the Saints.
