Roman looks to rekindle offensive success

Greg Roman recalled one of his first meetings with Jim Harbaugh, one that left a lasting impression on one of them but apparently not both. Roman, as he retold the story Thursday, was an assistant with the Carolina Panthers at the time and Harbaugh was a veteran quarterback.

“True story,” Roman said. “He's out warming up one day. It's his last year as an NFL quarterback (in 2001). I'm out there on the field. He says, `You know, Greg, someday when I'm a head coach, I'm going to hire you.' Here I was, going, `Who is this guy, telling me he's going to hire me?'

“True story. He doesn't remember it, of course.”

Harbaugh didn't just hire Roman once he became a head coach.

He did it three times — first at Stanford University, then with the San Francisco 49ers and now with the Chargers. Roman was hired earlier this month to be the Chargers' new offensive coordinator, replacing Kellen Moore, who took a similar job with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“When I accepted that job at Stanford, I immediately got a job offer from a very good NFL team with a Hall of Fame coach at the time,” Roman continued. “I thought about it and I said, `I think I'm going to go work for Jim.' That was a great decision. Very good coach. Very good person.”

Now Roman and Harbaugh are

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together again, tasked with transforming the Chargers' offense into something more than a statistical marvel. Their challenge is to allow quarterback Justin Herbert to meet and, ideally, surpass his remarkable potential while at the same time creating an engine for victories.

Roman and Harbaugh would seem like a natural fit, having coached for six seasons together. Roman also served as the Baltimore Ravens' offensive coordinator from 2019-22, working on the staff of head coach John Harbaugh, Jim's older brother. Roman didn't coach this past season.

Roman and Herbert would seem like a mismatched pair. Roman, 51, is short and stocky, built more like a wrestler and looking very much like the football lifer that he has become since his Carolina days. Herbert, 25, is tall and lean, listed at 6-foot-6 and easily mistaken for a basketball player.

The Chargers' goal is to establish an offense that relies on the running game as much as the passing game. An effective ground game has been absent for many seasons for the Chargers, something that Roman has vowed to change in the years to come while still taking advantage of Herbert's arm.

So, what is Roman's vision for the Chargers' offense?

“Oh man,” he said, “it's a team that when other teams see us on the schedule, they go, `Oh, God, we've got to play these guys? I'm going to get blocked from every different direction. Herbert's going to be back there firing dimes. This player is going to be making plays. Trying to stop the run, they're just going to be gashing us.'

“We're trying to create that conflict. That's the vision.”