St. Louis Rams to Interview Greg Roman for Offensive Coordinator Job

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas, the St. Louis Rams have received permission to interview Greg Roman for their vacant offensive coordinator position:

Rams granted permission to speak with Greg Roman, who has been in San Francisco, for their offensive coordinator job.
— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) January 9, 2015

The 42-year-old Roman is still employed at the moment by the San Francisco 49ers, though it’s unlikely that he’ll return, as head coach Jim Harbaugh departed to take the University of Michigan job at the end of the 2014 season. Roman has been working with Harbaugh for the past six years, as he coached under him at Stanford in 2009 and 2010 before moving to the 49ers when Harbaugh accepted their job for the 2011 season.

While it can be debated how much Roman was benefited by having Harbaugh, a strong offensive mind, around to help him out, it’s undeniable that he had offensive success in San Francisco. His offense, which ranked 26th overall but eighth in rushing, advanced to the NFC Championship Game and easily could have been in the Super Bowl had it not been for a Kyle Williams fumbled punt in the closing minutes which sparked the New York Giants to victory.

In 2012, Roman’s offense was ranked 11th in the league in total yardage (fourth in rushing and 24th in receiving), and it was good enough to take the 49ers to the Super Bowl, where they would lose to the Baltimore Ravens. While the San Francisco offense dropped off in terms of passing success in 2013 and 2014 as quarterback Colin Kaepernick seemed to regress to the norm, San Francisco sustained their success in the running game, finishing fourth in the league in rushing yardage in both yards.

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With Roman’s success running a ground-and-pound run-based offense, he’d be a logical fit with the Rams, where head coach Jeff Fisher has always employed a physical offensive scheme. The Rams have a ways to go in terms of offensive line development to reach the level that San Francisco was at in their offensive prime, but they got off to a good start this past offseason by drafting Greg Robinson and locking up Rodger Saffold long-term to play guard.

Of course, the biggest challenge for Roman will be finding a way to utilize former eighth-overall pick Tavon Austin, who has disappointed in his first two years. While San Francisco didn’t incorporate their fourth-rounder, Bruce Ellington (who is a similar player size and skill-wise to Austin), into the offense as much this year as the Rams did with Austin, they did find a way to get him more receiving touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 197-pound Ellington had two receiving touchdowns on six catches, plus one rushing TD.

While the Rams will probably evaluate several internal candidates (perhaps quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti or tight ends coach Rob Boras) and may consider several exterior ones, such as recently-fired Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach and former Fisher assistant Dowell Loggains, Roman could be a very interesting name to keep an eye on as the process to fill the vacancy moves along.

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