Northwestern coach Randy Walker and offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson were driving back from St. Louis Rams headquarters on Feb. 28 when Walker decided to check his voice mail.
It didn’t take long for Walker to recognize the raspy voice of one message. It was Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden.
“He goes, ‘Hey Randy, this is Jon Gruden and I just wanted to talk to you about Aaron Kromer because I’d really like to hire him as our offensive line coach,'” Walker said. “So I just go, ‘Ahh,’ because that’s the way it always is.”
The offer was too good for Kromer to refuse, and he immediately traded purple and white for Oakland’s silver and black.
Kromer spent nine seasons on Walker’s staff as a graduate assistant, tight ends/H-backs coach and offensive line coach at both Miami University and NU. Although Kromer’s experience is difficult to replace, Walker said he hopes all of his assistants further their careers.
“Every year I tell the staff that I want them to reach their goals, and I don’t think that’s being an assistant coach for me,” Walker said. “I hope it’s being a head coach or a coordinator in the NFL or whatever, but it’s probably not sitting around a table looking at me for the next 10 years.”
Walker explored acquiring a “line guy” from outside the NU program before moving tight ends/H-backs coach James Patton to the offensive line. Patton’s only offensive line coaching experience came at Rhode Island, where he coached tackles in 1995 and the line in 1996 and 1997.
Patton’s knowledge of NU’s system eases the transition for players like guard Jeff Roehl, who was excited to work with “a familiar face.” Although the linemen were stunned by Kromer’s departure, Roehl said he was happy to see Kromer moving on to the NFL.
According to Roehl, the timing of the coaching change has had no effect on the squad, which “didn’t miss a beat” in Wednesday’s practice.
“We were wondering what was going to happen, who was going to be our coach, and when we found out it was Coach Patton, we were really excited because he is a really intense guy,” Roehl said. “He brings 100 percent attitude all the time.”
