Aaron Kromer, like all assistant coaches, wants to be a head coach one day.
But as he enters the final week of his interim-to-the-interim gig, he’s not thinking about the future.
“I can’t think about those things,” Kromer said, via Sheldon Mickles of the Baton Rouge Advocate. “All I can think about is finding a way to beat Tampa Bay and getting this team ready as a group — as coordinators, and players, and everybody, back on track after a week off.
“That’s as far as we can look ahead. “It sounds simple and it sounds simple-minded, but that’s football. What is the task at hand?”
With interim coach Joe Vitt returning from his six-week suspension Monday, Kromer has presided over a 1-4 start that’s not nearly his fault.
But defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who presented Kromer a game ball after the Saints comeback win over the Chargers last time out, said he thinks Kromer has handled a tough situation well.
“I’ve been impressed with the way Aaron has handled things,” Spagnuolo said. “Let me tell you something, that job, the shoes that he stepped into, it’s not easy. I don’t know who could’ve stepped in and done a better job because it wasn’t an easy thing with everything going on.
“I know we’ve tried to rally around Aaron. I was very happy for him last week that he, as an interim head coach, had a win under his belt. I know that feeling, so I was happy for him.”
That Kromer isn’t making a big deal out of this is probably another line on the resume when the chance to interview comes. Coaches are programmed to stay in the moment, and if he can rally the Saints for back-to-back wins before handing the reins back to Vitt, it will speak to his ability as a leader making the best of a perhaps impossible situation.