On an evening expected to yield the Ravens some of the league’s most prestigious accolades, Baltimore begins not with John Harbaugh or Lamar Jackson winning an award, but offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Roman was named the National Football League’s Assistant Coach of the Year at the NFL Honors awards. The award show does not air until 8 PM on Saturday but is being prerecorded at the time of this writing. This is Roman’s first Assistant Coach of the Year award of his career.
Roman, the former San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator joined the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 as a tight ends coach and running game coordinator. Roman was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019 following the departure of Marty Mornhinweg. Roman’s history coaching young mobile quarterbacks provided great value to the Ravens, and he was the obvious choice to replace Mornhinweg.
In Roman’s first year as offensive coordinator, he brought the Baltimore Ravens to new, previously unimaginable heights.
The Ravens totaled 6,390 offensive yards and 531 points in 2019. Lamar Jackson became the presumptive league MVP halfway through the season, and the Ravens earned the top seed in the American Football Conference. Without Roman’s influence on the offense, which took the league by storm, Baltimore would be unable to accomplish these things.
Roman’s role on the Ravens’ offensive coaching staff generated a buzz throughout the league. There was speculation that Roman would be tapped as a head coach for the 2020 season, but these fears never came to fruition. Despite the interest, Roman is back in 2020, along with his defensive counterpart, Don “Wink” Martindale, who also garnered interest.
It is safe to say Roman deserves this award. His work with the Ravens was groundbreaking, and the Ravens are more than happy to have him back in 2020. Roman is just the first domino of the night to fall for the Ravens. Head coach John Harbaugh is expected to win NFL Coach of the Year, and Lamar Jackson is expected to win MVP.
