John Harbaugh confirms Greg Roman, Stanford have talked about head coach opening
When former Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw announced he was stepping down as the school’s head football coach, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman quickly became the frontrunner to replace him.
In a classic example of “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh confirmed on Wednesday that Roman has indeed been in contact with Stanford about its head coach opening.
"Greg talked to me, he said that there had been some contact there,” Harbaugh disclosed on Wednesday. “I think it's very preliminary right now, and that's where it's at. When you have really great coaches, they're going to have opportunities, and we always try to encourage that and support that any way we can."
Roman spent two years on staff at Stanford as a tight ends and offensive tackles coach from 2009 to 2010 under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh, John’s brother. Roman followed Jim to the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent four seasons as the team’s offensive coordinator.
In three-plus seasons as Ravens offensive coordinator, Roman’s offenses have finished second, 19th, and sixth, respectively. This season, Baltimore ranks second in rushing offense, ninth in scoring, and 11th in total offense.
While Roman to Stanford isn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion, Harbaugh maintained he’s isn’t worried about losing his offensive coordinator just yet.
"We'll just cross that bridge when we get there," he said. "I think we're pretty far from that at this point."
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