Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are several potential candidates for the Chargers’ offensive coordinator position under Jim Harbaugh.
On Wednesday, the Chargers made the splash hire everyone thought they would, bringing in Jim Harbaugh as the franchise’s next head coach.
All eyes now turn to the rest of the staff. Here are a few names to keep tabs on for the offensive coordinator opening.
FormerRavens offensive coordinator Greg Roman revealed his 2023 coaching plans
The Baltimore Ravens and offensive coordinator Greg Roman decided to part ways in early 2023. Before that, Roman was rumored to be a top candidate for some college offensive coordinator positions, as well as having an interview to be the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator after he parted ways with the Ravens. Now, it seems like Roman is taking the 2023 season off from coaching.
In an interview with The 33rd Team, Roman was asked what he’s going to be doing with his 2023 season. The former Baltimore coach said that he will have a hand in high school football and stay in touch with a college program too.
Greg Roman is taking the 2023 season off from coaching after four years as Ravens offensive coordinator.
Roman said he will “have a hand” in high school football and a college program as well.
“I’m going to try to stay pretty busy,” he said.pic.twitter.com/sOxqvrlCF1
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 31, 2023
Roman will most likely coach again, but it might not be for an NFL organization. He might end up in the college game before getting another shot in the NFL. New Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken was in the NFL, then went back to coach in college before getting the job in Baltimore.
Eric Bieniemy will finally meet with the Commanders.
The Washington Commanders have waited weeks to speak with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy about their OC vacancy. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, that meeting will occur on Thursday.
The #Commanders will interview #Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy tomorrow for their still-vacant OC job, source said. He's a top candidate. They spoke with Greg Roman yesterday, which went well, and have no other interviews scheduled.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 15, 2023
Bieniemy is the presumed top candidate. Head coach Ron Rivera spoke at the Super Bowl’s Radio Row last week about Bieniemy, saying that Bieniemy wanted to work with a defensive-minded coach, which Rivera is. And that Rivera wanted to speak with Bieniemy before making a decision.
Washington has been without an offensive coordinator since Jan. 10, when it fired Scott Turner. Turner has since landed with the Las Vegas Raiders as a pass game coordinator.
The Commanders interviewed former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Tuesday, which apparently went well. It would appear that Bieniemy and Roman are the top candidates, but quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese and former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur are also firmly in the mix.
Rivera hopes to have a decision by the end of the week. Bieniemy will be the eighth person to interview with Rivera for the position.
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Ranking the current options for Washington’s next offensive coordinator.
The dust appears to have settled on the Washington Commanders and their search for an offensive coordinator. Head coach Ron Rivera made his rounds at Radio Row during Super Bowl week last week and envisioned his search for an offensive coordinator wrapping up soon.
The Commanders fired Scott Turner on Jan. 10 and have interviewed seven known candidates since that time. Washington waited until after the Super Bowl to interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, something Rivera openly acknowledged. While Washington has reached out for an interview with Bieniemy, it’s unknown when that interview will take place.
One of the candidates, Charles London, took a new job with the Titans. Two of the other candidates, Eric Studesville and Thomas Brown, don’t appear to be top contenders. That leaves us with four remaining options.
We rank each of those options for Washington. We consider cost, style of offense and fan reaction in our rankings.
Greg Roman has been free since Jan. 19.
The Washington Commanders fired offensive coordinator Scott Turner on Jan. 10 and still don’t have a replacement. That shouldn’t create panic because most of Washington’s interviewed candidates remain for hire.
Two candidates that Washington hasn’t yet interviewed, former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, are expected to interview this week. In fact, the Commanders have lined Roman up for an interview on Tuesday.
Interestingly enough, the Ravens and Roman parted ways after four seasons together on Jan. 19. At that time, we mentioned how Roman should be a strong candidate for Washington. Yet, weeks went by, and it didn’t appear there was interest from one side or the other.
Until Monday, when ESPN’s John Keim first broke the news that the Commanders were looking to interview Roman.
Why now?
The timing is peculiar. We haven’t heard if Roman has been making his rounds in the interview process. And the Commanders interviewed six candidates, yet there was never any mention of Roman.
That doesn’t mean the Commanders or Roman wasn’t interested. Perhaps it was a timing issue on one side or the other. For the type of offense that Washington wants to run, Roman would be an ideal candidate. And for all the criticism he received in Baltimore, he had success. Roman also has a history of success with quarterbacks. Alex Smith and Lamar Jackson have both enjoyed success under Roman’s tutelage.
That leads us back to his interview with Washington. Why did the two sides wait until after the Super Bowl to have a formal interview? Head coach Ron Rivera confirmed last week he was waiting until after the Super Bowl to speak with Bieniemy.
Does this mean Bieniemy is already out of the running without even interviewing with Washington? We should know more this week, as Bieniemy will have options. As for the Commanders, while Bieniemy likely remains the top choice, they’ll have options if Bieniemy turns them down.
Washington is looking to interview Eric Bieniemy and Greg Roman for its offensive coordinator position this week.
The Super Bowl is over, so assistant coaches from the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are free to interview for positions with other teams.
This is of particular interest to the Washington Commanders, who are interested in Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the same role. Washington is reportedly trying to set up an interview with Bieniemy.
According to John Keim of ESPN, Bieniemy isn’t the only offensive coordinator candidate that Washington is looking to interview this week. The Commanders are trying to set up a date to interview former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
Washington is trying to set up a date for former Baltimore OC Greg Roman to interview this week. https://t.co/E442Y0te8I
— John Keim (@john_keim) February 13, 2023
Roman and the Ravens parted ways on Jan. 19 after six seasons as the offensive coordinator. Roman is praised as an excellent designer of the run game. However, Baltimore’s passing offense struggled at times during his tenure. Was that due to Roman or personnel?
Bieniemy remains Washington’s top choice, but does this late pivot to Roman mean head coach Ron Rivera knows Bieniemy isn’t taking the job? Washington has had weeks to interview Roman, and he was never mentioned as a candidate.
Before any interviews with Bieniemy and Roman, the Commanders have interviewed six candidates since firing Scott Turner last month.
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A divisional rival has been busy looking for their new offensive coordinator.
As we continue to follow news around the AFC North as well, the offensive coordinator search of the Baltimore Ravens is among the most interesting among divisional rivals. After the Ravens parted ways with Greg Roman, they have been quite busy looking for their new man to run the offense. Thus far, it looks like five names are among the coaches in contention.
While it was already reported that former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken has received a second interview, so have two others as the pass game coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, Brian Angelichio, and Dave Canales, who is the quarterbacks coach of the Seattle Seahawks, have also received second interviews. The former offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Byron Leftwich, has also spoken to the Ravens about their vacancy.
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Here are five names Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide should explore for the open offensive coordinator job.
One of the most impressive things about Nick Saban’s tenure as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide is that he has continued to win despite the constant turnover of coordinators. In conclusion of the 2022 season, the Crimson Tide must replace both offensive and defensive coordinators after losing Bill O’Brien to the New England Patriots and Pete Golding to Ole Miss.
Tuscaloosa has been fortunate enough to have had some of the most talented play callers in college football over the last few years such as Brian Daboll, Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian, Mike Locksley and others. It is a highly-coveted position in the college football world and Saban will do his due diligence in this search.
Here are the top five coordinators that would be the best fit for the position.
Ron Rivera needs to hire the offensive coordinator who can help him win — not necessarily who he is most comfortable with.
Ron Rivera and the Commanders are searching for their next offensive coordinator, and one name has yet to generate much discussion.
The reason might be play-calling experience. Or it might be something as simple as why would an offensive coordinator leave Patrick Mahomes for another OC job.
Calling the plays in the NFL? Don’t all offensive coordinators do this today? Not if the head coach wants to be calling the plays. Eric Bienemy has been in Kansas City now for ten years. For the first five, he coached running backs, and for the last five, he has been the offensive coordinator, but it remains Reid who calls the plays.
Apparently, the play calling of OC Scott Turner was upsetting enough to Coach Ron that Turner was sent packing after his three years under Rivera.
Play-calling is the most criticized aspect of NFL coaching.
Every fan knows the coordinator should not have called that play that didn’t work well. Actually, what most of us confuse is play-calling with execution.
The Commanders run it up the middle on 4th & 1, “Everyone knew they were going to run it up the middle! They should have out-smarted the defense and pitched it wide!”
Yet, when Washington pitched wide on a 4th & 1 early against Cleveland, “What are you doing, pitching wide when you need only one yard!? You should have sent Brian Robinson up the middle to pick up the one yard!”
Of course, those fans were completely forgetting that the interior line had trouble getting a surge in the previous game in San Francisco, missing on three plays needing a single yard.
Pat Shurmur?
Ken Zampese?
Charles London?
Eric Studesville?
Thomas Brown?
Greg Roman?
Who knows?
I certainly don’t.
One thing we do know. Coach Ron has won 7, 7 and 8 games in his three seasons in Washington. He is well aware he NEEDS to win next year.
Consequently, won’t Rivera thus hire whom he feels will best help him get over the hump and into the playoffs in 2023?
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We analyze the 2022 season of the Ravens’ running backs
Five running backs and the Baltimore Ravens’ lone fullback handled the ball in the team’s backfield in 2022, totaling just over 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns between them. Still, none of the Ravens’ rushers were able to out-produce quarterback Lamar Jackson on the ground, with the exception of Kenyan Drake, who managed to score one more touchdown that the MVP signal caller.
Under then-offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s direction the Ravens’ offense was expected to feature one of the NFL’s best running games in 2022, and they did just that, finishing second in total yards and third in yards per attempt. However, Jackson accounted for almost 30 percent of Baltimore’s total rushing output in just 12 games, and seemed to be the team’s most viable option on the ground until his injury late in the season.
Third-year running back J.K. Dobbins put in some good work for the Ravens in the eight games he appeared in, rushing for an impressive 520 yards, but he only found the end zone twice. Likewise, fan-favorite back Gus Edwards managed to gain 433 yards on the ground in nine contests, but only managed to hit pay-dirt three times.
Justice Hill, the Ravens’ fourth-year speedster, played in the most games of any of the team’s backs with 15 appearances but was relegated to a limited role, only producing 262 yards and failing to score a touchdown in the 2022 campaign despite showing solid skills.
Veteran running back Mike Davis and fullback Patrick Ricard were the only other non-receivers or quarterbacks to carry the rock for Baltimore this season, and gained 34 yards on 15 carries between them. Neither scored a touchdown.
Clearly, the team values the running game, and showed flashes in that department over the course of the year. Dobbins seems to be their best bet to lead the team on the ground from the running back position as they seek to pursue a Super Bowl title next season, but they have other qualified options such as Edwards.
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