Greg Roman Drags Jim Harbaugh Down Significantly In New Coaching Staff Ranking

The Los Angeles Chargers were roundly praised after they won the employ Jim Harbaugh sweepstakes this offseason. The king of turning a football culture around now attempts to right one of the most chronically and confusingly underperforming teams of all time.

The Harbaugh era is still very much in the honeymoon phase, but the first eyebrow-raising move by Harbaugh was his choice of offensive coordinator, Greg Roman. He decided to pair Justin Herbert, one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league, with one of the run-heaviest playcallers in recent NFL history.

From 10th to 17th: Jim Harbaugh Knocked For Roman Hire

ESPN’s Ben Solak, recently published an article Ranking all 32 NFL teams’ coaching staffs, coordinators in 2024 . The Chargers land at 17th, thanks in large part to Roman. Solak points out the staff would have been ranked much higher had Harbaugh hired a different offensive coordinator.

“If we’re just ranking head coaches, Jim Harbaugh is probably fringe top 10. But we’re not ranking head coaches — we’re ranking entire staffs. Ten of the past 12 years of Roman’s NFL employment have been directly under a Harbaugh brother, and he’s back for his third stint as a pro coordinator. I acknowledge he is one of the best run-game designers in professional football, and his ability to graft college trends into offenses is nifty. But the limitations of his passing attack in Baltimore were very apparent, both in design and in detail. I have no reason to believe he has tidied up that toothless chapter of his playbook, and I’ll adjust my rankings only when I see the change.”

Roman has only led a top-10 offense a handful of times in his 10 years as a coordinator. His pièce de résistance came in 2019 with the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson as his quarterback. That offense was ranked first in points and second in yards.

But that year serves as an outlier. The next season that team was seventh and nineteenth in those categories. His best showing with the 49ers was eleventh in both points and yards.

The most consistent aspect of his offense is his reliance on the running game. In seven of his 10 years, Roman’s offenses ranked in the top three in rushing attempts, with all seasons in the top 10.

All the blame for the Chargers’ low ranking can be chalked up to Roman. Solak goes on to criticize defensive Coordinator, Jesse Minter’s inexperience at the professional level. Although, Solak does like his defense schematically.

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