Greg Roman will not be the Ravens’ offensive coordinator after a four-year run by which he designed the best floor sport in NFL historical past however annoyed followers by failing to construct a commensurate passing assault.
“After visiting with Coach Harbaugh and after huddling with my family, I have decided that now is the right time to move on from the Ravens so that I can explore new challenges and opportunities,” Roman mentioned in a press release launched Thursday afternoon by his agent.
The Ravens loved the best offensive season in franchise historical past in 2019 but additionally suffered a few of their most irritating defeats with Roman calling the performs. He helped unleash quarterback Lamar Jackson as one of many sport’s most fun offensive centerpieces, however critics questioned if he finally held Jackson again with unimaginative passing designs.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh praised his departing offensive coordinator in a press release: “Greg has led the development and success of a record-setting offense in Baltimore for several seasons. He is a tremendous football coach, as well as family man and person. Greg devised and led our offense to no fewer than 26 historical NFL and franchise achievements. He established an identity for our offense. We are grateful for Greg’s great work and abilities, and we wish him and his wonderful family the utmost happiness going forward.”
The 2022 season was a rocky cap to Roman’s rocky tenure. The Ravens began scorching and dominated opponents on the bottom to safe a playoff spot. But their passing sport, quick on expertise to start with, misplaced steam because the 12 months went on. They sputtered repeatedly within the purple zone and didn’t rating a couple of landing in any of their final six regular-season video games.
Fans turned enraged by Roman’s play calling one ultimate time when he despatched quarterback Tyler Huntley on a goal-line sneak as a substitute of handing the ball to working again J.Okay. Dobbins or Gus Edwards at a pivotal juncture of the Ravens’ 24-17 playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. A Cincinnati linebacker knocked the ball from Huntley’s grip, and defensive finish Sam Hubbard returned it for a go-ahead 98-yard landing. Harbaugh defended the decision afterward, saying the execution, not the idea, was off.
Regardless, Harbaugh will now seek for a brand new coordinator to breathe life into an offense that stagnated down the stretch every of the final two seasons. That course of can be difficult by the uncertainty round Jackson’s future with the Ravens and by the dearth of expertise at large receiver on the staff’s present roster. There are potential inside candidates corresponding to large receivers coach Tee Martin and quarterbacks coach James Urban, however outstanding exterior candidates is perhaps reluctant to design an offense round Jackson with out figuring out if the upcoming free agent can be round to run it in 2023 and past.
Roman, 50, had served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills earlier than he joined the Ravens as a senior offensive assistant and tight ends coach in 2017. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2018. He had constructed a fame as a wizard of the working sport, however his offenses in San Francisco and Buffalo had stagnated because of bottom-of-the-barrel passing manufacturing.
Harbaugh named Roman coordinator earlier than the 2019 season, believing nobody was higher certified to design an offense round Jackson’s distinctive expertise. The plan labored spectacularly at first because the Ravens set a single-season speeding report with 3,296 yards and led the league in scoring. Jackson received Most Valuable Player honors, throwing 36 landing passes with simply six interceptions. Roman was one of many league’s most lauded assistants, with hypothesis constructing that he is perhaps in line for a head-coaching alternative.
The Ravens crashed in a 28-12 playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, failing to attain a landing till the fourth quarter. Fans have been nonetheless thrilled that Roman would return for one more go in 2020. The Ravens continued working the ball with exceptional effectivity that season however took a step again as their passing manufacturing cratered. Roman’s offense once more flopped within the divisional spherical of the playoffs, scoring simply three factors on a windy night time in Buffalo.
The Ravens and Jackson jumped to a scorching begin in 2021 however misplaced their approach at midseason as accidents alongside the offensive line left them toothless towards the blitz. An ankle damage to Jackson sealed their destiny as they crashed out of the playoff race over the past six weeks of the season. Roman took his share of the blame as they fell to seventeenth in scoring regardless of rating sixth in complete yardage. A vocal subsection of followers begged Harbaugh to fireplace him, arguing that the staff’s passing sport would by no means enhance with him in cost.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
