Bay Area Sports Guy – Greg Roman isn’t perfect, but he could be missed

For the last two seasons the 49ers have finally enjoyed continuity at the position of offensive coordinator. Most 49ers fans considered themselves lucky to have Greg Roman stick around last year, especially after his flirtations with Penn State.

2013′s coaching carousel is now churning and Roman’s name is in the hat again, this time being tied to several different head coaching jobs, including most recently the Jacksonville Jaguars:

If Roman ends up leaving, would it change the fortune of the 49ers’ offense? In 2011 he was a messiah with his fingerprints on Alex Smith’s revival, but things have not gone as smoothly for Roman this season. In fact, several of his decisions have ended up as considerable question marks, the most criticized probably being the botched Ted Ginn pitch against the Rams.

While that may be the play people point to most in explaining their willingness to move on from Roman, it’s not the only gaff he’s made. The 49ers have done quite a bit of midseason experimentation this year, and though some of it worked, some moves also proved detrimental:

Roman seemed to lean heavily toward using the pistol offense, only to all but abandon it last Sunday against the Cardinals. Was this a failed experiment? Frank Gore told the Monterey Herald he “can’t hit the hole that fast in the pistol.” Perhaps that has contributed to Gore’s recent rushing slump.

The in-huddle play-calling design, which features long-winded wording containing two different plays, has caused some play clock issues with the 49ers this year, something I documented.

The jumbo formation destroyed defenses early in the season, but doesn’t seem to be fooling anybody now.

Did all of these new wrinkles hamper the 49ers’ regular season offense?

The answer is no. Even with the ever-changing philosophies and the mid-season quarterback switch, San Francisco’s offense improved from 2011 to 2012. First downs, yards, completion percentage and red zone efficiency are all up. Their third down conversion rate is also up six points to 35%; obviously better than last year, although it still leaves them ranked 25th in the league. Nevertheless, the 49ers improved in their second year with Roman as offensive coordinator.

The question that will remain unanswered is whether Roman has affected the progress or (as Tre9er pointed out to me on Twitter) if it’s more the result of personnel improvements. Colin Kaepernick and Alex Smith both turned out to be highly efficient passers this year. In Gore, Kendall Hunter and LaMichael James, the 49ers have three running backs who can move the chains. While the run game’s improvements may also speak well of the offensive line, the decrease in sacks allowed points to improvements in pass blocking as well. These factors produce a chicken and egg situation when it comes to Roman: are the 49ers playing well in Roman’s system or are the 49ers making Roman’s system look good?

Ultimately, the 49ers found more than offensive success with Roman as the play caller: they continued to trend upward in his second year, despite some major mid-season alterations. With Harbaugh staying put and quarterback coach Geep Chryst likely taking over coordinating duties, the 49ers would presumably be in good hands if Roman leaves. But by no means will the 49ers be happy to see Roman go. He may have gotten a little too much credit early this season, and he has probably taken too much flack recently. Regardless of the ebb and flow in terms of public opinion, the optimal result would be to keep Roman in a coaching role where the 49ers have had so much trouble maintaining continuity over the past decade.

4 comments

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Sunset Boy

Chryst will take over from the Roman. How could you go wrong with Chryst calling the plays? Sorry, I couldn't resist. I believe Roman deserves some credit for the improvement in offense. He's creative, but he also knows the strengths of the team, so he doesn't usually ask the offense to do more than it's capable of doing, gimmick plays notwithstanding. Roman knows how to get the ball down the field, especially when given the new toys for 2012. But, IMHO, when the Niners get to the red zone, his play calling becomes extremely predictable. Run twice, then forced to pass on third and long. Its become a pattern. Not sure if that is totally on Roman, but, its a problem.

Stan

He's better then average. You can only compare him to the OC's we've seen here in the bay area directly. He beats Jimmy Ray,Knapp. Although,I wouldn't say he's better then Hue or even Mike Martz. Better then two,worse then two. Ok,I changed my mind..he's average.

DeafwriterJC

With Roman as offensive coordinator, with the switch from Alex to Colin, and the adjustment Gore has to make hitting the holes from the pistol, there are bound to be growing pains. This is the NFL. Teams will find a way to slow down the 49er offense because the NFL is a very high level league and adjustment is common. Every coordinator has a gaffe over the course of a season. That proves Roman isn't afraid to try things even if they potentially can turn disastrous. The ill-begotten toss to Gin was like tossing a play into the stands and throw away the game. It comes down to execution and better for the 49ers to experience the growing pains of execution during the season than in the playoffs. Now in a first round bye, the 49ers need to formulate a great game plan and work on the execution, and iron out the potential mistakes or gaffes that can haunt any team in a playoff game. They have playoff experience which is a positive for the 49ers.

Tod

One of my concerns are the gimmicky plays that sometimes confuse the offense as much as the defense. My bigger concern is having continuity of high performance both during and across games. The 49ers offense too often seems willing to play down to the level of the opponent when it's a weaker team or when they have a lead.