Dawkins appreciates the way Kromer goes about it because once you try his technique, Kromer shows his players how to morph it into how they already play.
“It’s feet and where the defender is,” Dawkins said about what Kromer harps on. “If the guy is over here, this is how you get to him … it makes you think he’s crazy because you’re thinking, ‘What does he mean this is how you do it?’ Then you try it and you’re like, ‘Oh this does work.'”
Edwards had the honor of playing for Kromer at multiple stops and knows all about the Kromer approach. The guard was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Edwards wasn’t sure he would even get drafted due to a shoulder injury, but Kromer saw through it and was banging the drum for him.
“I had a lot of question marks surrounding me,” Edwards said. “I didn’t play well in my last year in Wisconsin. He saw my red shirt sophomore year in 2017, and said, ‘This guy can play.’ Well, he’s got a shoulder injury, and Kromer stood up for me.”
Once Edwards got to L.A., Kromer moved him from tackle to guard. He believed Edwards was better suited to last in the NFL as such. Within that switch came Edwards diving headfirst into the Kromer way.
“We were playing a jet technique team in my rookie year,” Edwards recalled. “And Kromer said we have to use our hands this week, you got to stop them with your hands and then start again. I was like, ‘Wow.’ Like in college, you just hit everything the same … That was the first time I thought about football on a different level.”
Ever since then, Edwards was a believer.
“After that game, me feeling it and seeing me do it on tape, I was like, ‘Yeah this is awesome.'”