This past offseason, we saw the Baltimore Ravens dip into the college coaching market to hire Mike Macdonald away from Michigan to be their defensive coordinator. This upcoming offseason, we could see the tables turn with offensive coordinator Greg Roman heading back to college.
Only, for Roman, it would be a big promotion, as he’s now being linked to the vacant head coaching gig at Stanford after David Shaw surprisingly stepped down.
Except, unlike in many other scenarios, this time, it’s not a rumor.
Related: 6 Stanford Cardinal coaching candidates to replace David Shaw, from Chris Petersen to Troy Taylor
John Harbaugh confirms Greg Roman-Stanford ties
According to coach John Harbaugh himself, whose family has their own ties to the Stanford Cardinal from when his sibling, Jim, coached the program from 2007-10, Roman has talked with the school.
“Greg talked to me, he said there had been some contact there. I think it’s very preliminary right now. That’s where it’s at. When you have great coaches they have opportunities and we always try to encourage that and support them.”
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh on Greg Roman’s link to Stanford
Giving this story even more legs is the fact that Roman previously worked under brother Jim Harbaugh at Stanford as their tight ends/offensive tackles coach. Obviously, this would be a much larger role.
Coordinating the Ravens’ offense, Roman managed to lead the team to an NFL-high 33.8 points per game during Lamar Jackson‘s MVP season in 2019. They’ve had a top-10 scoring offense in three of his four seasons as coordinator, and would appear to be a strong fit for Stanford as well.
The Cardinal have gone 2-7 and 1-8 in each of their past two seasons, so there wouldn’t appear to be much immediate pressure to have a quick turnaround. In other words, Roman couldn’t do much worse than what they’ve gotten used to in recent time.
Related: 4 potential David Shaw landing spots in the NFL after resignation from Stanford