Aaron Kromer makes good first impression as the New Orleans Saints' 'fill-in for the fill-in' head coach

It didn't take Aaron Kromer long to make his first call as Saints head coach. Seconds after pretzeling his 6-4 frame behind the mic stand to meet the press for the first time, Kromer called an audible.?

"We need a bigger table," quipped Kromer, while craning his neck toward his chest.

The coaching staff hasn't managed a real game yet but they've already been forced to make a year's worth of adjustments and audibles this offseason. Press conference ergonomics are only the latest precedent in this crazy, unprecedented campaign.

During his 15-minute briefing, Kromer accorded himself well. He said all the right things and maintained a positive outlook despite the extraordinary challenges ahead.

As first impressions go, Kromer looked and acted the part of an NFL head coach. There were no Jersey Joe Vitt one-liners, or pursed-lip Sean Payton death stares, but that's OK. Kromer knows Rule No. 1 in being head coach is to be yourself.

"I can't be Sean. I can't be Joe Vitt. I am going to be me," he said. "Whatever that is in the time, we'll see."

So what kind of personality will the Saints assume under Kromer? Will his offensive line roots mean a more conservative offensive approach? Will they run the ball more often on third-and-2 than they did under Payton?

Kromer insisted otherwise Thursday. In fact, he believes folks won't see a distinguishable difference between the free-wheeling, go-for-the-jugular outfit they've seen the past six years under Payton and the one that opens the season against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 9.

Moreover, people that know Kromer say he'll be just as aggressive as Payton on the sideline. Indeed, if there's one coach on the staff who could rival Payton's swagger it's Kromer. By and large, he's a mild-mannered guy, but he's shown he's not afraid to get in someone's face when the situation demands it. You might recall Kromer is the guy who dressed down Carl Nicks on the sideline in St. Louis last year.

"We will do the same things that Sean Payton has done over the years," Kromer said.

Circumstances dictate one major difference. Under Payton, the Saints were an autocracy. Under Kromer, the decision-making will be more democratic, a collaborative effort between himself, coordinators Pete Carmichael Jr., Steve Spagnuolo and Greg McMahon. Even the duty of challenging officials' calls will be shared, with Spags handling the defensive challenges in collaboration with him.

But even Kromer knows there will be a time and place when the by-committee approach won't work. NFL teams demand a strong leader. They require a single voice of authority, especially in the heat of battle. At some point, he'll have to make a call or two on his own. After all, he's the man who is going to stand in front of the team and introduce the game plans on Wednesdays. He's the one who'll be required to light a fire under the team after a sub-par performance. It's in those instances when Kromer and the Saints will truly learn if he's cut from head coaching timber.

Kromer's credentials were validated by the Rams and Colts earlier this year when they sought to interview him for their head coaching vacancies. His promotion makes the most sense. It will be the least disruptive to the staff, allowing the coordinators to focus on weekly game plans and making for a smooth transition when Vitt returns from suspension in Week 8.

For continuity's sake, it might have made more sense to promote Kromer as interim head coach for the entire season but there's truly no right answer here.

The good thing for the Saints is their program is somewhat on autopilot at this point. In Year 7 of the Payton tenure, most of the staff and roster know the drill and understand what it takes to be successful in this league. The newcomers fall in line behind them.

"We're not saying that we have all the answers," Drew Brees said. "We're all for making things better, and we continue to evolve and adapt. ... But in the end, ... (Aaron) Kromer having been here for four years, knowing the way we do things, knowing the guys both offensively and defensively, knowing the dynamics and the way we run meetings and schedules, I think it works out perfectly for everybody. Everyone is going to continue to have input, and despite the circumstances this is the best scenario we could have asked for."

We'll see. This is uncharted territory. The Saints can't call on colleagues or mentors to help them with this one. There's no protocol, no chapter in Bill Walsh's "Finding the Winning Edge" on how to be, as Kromer put it, "the fill-in for the fill-in." Nobody knows how this thing is going to turn out. Not Brees. Not Mickey Loomis. Not anyone.

The Saints aren't flying completely by their seat of their paints, but they're navigating by compass rather than GPS.

Source: http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2012/08/aaron_kromer_makes_good_first.html

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