Krepps back home at W&J
It is simply not true that you can’t go home again.
Aaron Krepps is living proof.
Krepps, a former standout football player at Belle Vernon Area High School and Washington and Jefferson College, is back with his beloved Presidents.
Krepps, 39, has returned as W&J’s offensive line coach and as assistant head coach to Mike Sirianni.
“Family is a large part of why we came back,” said Krepps, who formerly served as Belle Vernon’s football coach and was an assistant in the college ranks before becoming head coach at Bluffton.
Krepps said he and his wife, Lauren, both yearned to find their way back “home.”
The couple have two daughters, Harlow and Karson.
“We were in Ohio almost a decade – five hours away. We had a desire to get back to western Pennsylvania, to get back home,” he added. “I had been looking for the last few years. Around Christmas, things started happening. I jumped at the opportunity. I never thought I’d be able to come back to W&J. Mike’s one of my mentors.”
What happened was Sirianni needed a new offensive line coach as Robert Jazwinski stepped away from the program from a full-time basis. Krepps, who now resides in the Mon Valley, was hired in January.
In addition to filling that specific need, Sirianni wanted to accelerate his objective to return the Presidents to being “great” again.
W&J hasn’t won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference since 2018, one of its two titles out of the last six contested.
“I kind of approached (Aaron),” Sirianni said. “We had conversations before this time. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to him about coming here was that for the last 20-plus years whatever I’ve said offensively went. I hadn’t been challenged. That’s not actually a good thing. Aaron’s going to challenge me. It’s great to have him as part of this staff and to challenge me with things. It will be a good thing for this program.
“We must be better upfront. We all know that. Aaron brings new ideas. He visited coaches and different places. He’s already helped us and that will continue.
“On top of all that, he’s one of the best players in the program’s history. He loves W&J, and he loves being home.”
Krepps most recently served as an assistant coach at Ohio Northern University. He was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during his time at ONU.
That was his second stint with the Polar Bears, as he previously was an assistant coach in 2015 and ’16.
Krepps was the head coach at Bluffton University from 2018 through ’21. The Beavers posted a combined record of 13-25 during his tenure. He was the offensive coordinator at Bluffton in 2017.
Prior to his stints at ONU and Bluffton, he was an assistant coach at now defunct Alderson Broaddus (W.Va.) in 2014.
Krepps was head coach at his alma mater, Belle Vernon, from 2009 to ’13 after holding collegiate assistant coaching positions at Eastern Michigan in 2007 and Adrian (Mich.) in ’06.
Krepps was a dynamic player at W&J. He was a four-year letterman as a receiver and kick returner for the Presidents and a two-time All-American wide receiver. He also was an honorable mention All-American kick returner, a three-time All-President’s Athletic Conference honoree and was named the ECAC and PAC Player of the Year as a junior in 2004.
Krepps is a member of the W&J Athletic Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
Krepps scored 49 touchdowns as a President and reached the end zone four different ways. He caught 181 passes for 2,811 yards and 39 touchdowns, while also rushing for 363 yards and five scores. Krepps returned three punts for touchdowns and amassed 1,439 kickoff return yards on 61 attempts and two TDs.
The three-time All-PAC performer owns school records for career punt returns (76), career punt return yards (1,123) and career yards per punt return (14.7).
Krepps totaled 5,638 all-purpose yards. He earned All-America accolades during the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons. In 2003, he was named by Hewlett Packard/CoSIDA as a kick return specialist. A year later, D3football.com named him Second Team All-America, while four different organizations honored Krepps following his senior year, including a spot on the Associated Press Little All-America Team.
Krepps led teams at W&J to a pair of conference championships and he and the Presidents made three appearances in the NCAA playoffs.
The 2004 team remains one of the most successful teams in school history after winning its first 12 games during a run to the national quarterfinals. W&J defeated Bridgewater (55-48) in overtime) and Christopher Newport (24-14) in the first two rounds of the 2004 NCAA playoffs.
Krepps’ one-yard touchdown run with no time left on the clock forced overtime in round one. In the Bridgewater game, he caught the go-ahead pass in the third quarter.
“I’m going to be a sounding board for Mike,” Krepps said. “He trusts in me and believes in what I can do. I played for him and have a level of respect for him. W&J is a little different now. When I played here, we were run and gun.
“We have a great defense, a defense that wins us games. But we want to get back to being able to score more and move the ball better to go with that kind of defense. I don’t think we’re far off.
“I never coached offensive line before. But I asked a lot of questions and looked at a lot of things. We’ve made some changes. As far as I’m concerned, if you can coach, you can coach.”
Krepps earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2006 from W&J.
In additions to his other records and achievements, he was selected to represent Team USA in the All-American Aztec Bowl in 2005 and helped the Americans defeat Mexico, 53-15, in Toluca, Mexico.
Krepps signed with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League in 2006 where he played in two preseason games.
Make no mistake that in addition to returning to his alma mater, getting back close to family was important to both he and his wife, who is from Belle Vernon and graduated from Geibel Catholic High School and Saint Vincent College.
“We’ve spent five or six months with our parents,” Krepps said. “That’s been really nice. It’s been great personally to see my parents every day.
“Seeing and interacting with family is huge. The support is huge. I’m comfortable where we are. I’m a proud W&J alum.”
He’s home again and ready to make a difference.