Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman is leaving the team to “pursue other opportunities” he announced Thursday.
Or the Ravens suggested that it would be in everyone’s best interest that Roman pursue other opportunities.
But OK, I will go with the version from Roman, who went on to add: “After visiting with coach John Harbaugh and after huddling with my family, I have decided that now is the right time to move from the Ravens so that I can explore new challenges and opportunities.”
Roman has been offensive coordinator in Baltimore since 2019. That season plenty went right for the Ravens. They led the NFL in scoring offense, totaled the second-most overall yards, and Lamar Jackson was named league MVP.
Roman announced his decision just an hour from the Ravens’ end-of-season news conference.
Harbaugh opened the conference with this statement, “He (Roman) is a tremendous football coach, as well as family man and person.” Harbaugh went on saying, “He established an identity for our offense. We are grateful for Greg’s work and abilities.”
In 2019 Roman was honored as the Associated Press Assistant Coach of the Year. With Jackson playing, the Ravens went 39-15 with Roman as coordinator.
Fair or not, without Jackson, Baltimore went 5-10. That is right, since the start of the 2020 season Jackson has been sidelined for 15 games.
This season Baltimore averaged just over 13 points per game over their final six games with Jackson out with an injured knee before losing in the wild card round to Cincinnati Sunday.
How does Roman’s departure potentially affect the Jackson decision?
It wasn’t a close-kept secret that Jackson and Roman weren’t always on the same page when it came to offensive schemes and play calling. And most always when a play went bad, it was Roman, not Jackson, that took the blame. At least from the fans’ perspective.
It’s true that under Roman the Ravens enjoyed some enormous success, but also suffered some frustrating defeats, after some head-scratching play calls.
My frustration with Roman is that he often held Jackson under too much control, with too many vanilla passing schemes. Jackson on the football field is like Steph Curry on the hardwood. Both are dynamic players that often it’s best to just let them do their thing.
Harbaugh said this Thursday about the vacant position, “This is going to be a highly sought-after job. This is one of the top football-coaching jobs in the world. Everybody is going to want this job.”
Harbaugh may be right.
It depends entirely on who the quarterback is next season.
Harbaugh and general manager Eric DeCosta said Thursday they expect Jackson to be their quarterback next season and for years to come.
DeCosta said this morning on WBAL radio: “I truly believe Lamar wants to finish his career in Baltimore, and Lamar knows how we feel.”
Asked if potential offensive coordinator candidates might be dissuaded by the possibility of Jackson being traded, DeCosta replied, “But with the potential of working with high draft picks, that would be appealing as well.”
Huh?
Maybe. But if Jackson is traded, I’m not sure about it being the best job in the world.
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