The Ravens have relieved Marty Mornhinweg of his duties as offensive coordinator this morning, promoting Greg Roman to the position.
The Ravens are making a change at offensive coordinator. Greg Roman will be the offensive coordinator going forward as part of a potential re-organization of the Ravens' offensive coaching staff. John Harbaugh confirmed the change.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 11, 2019
RSR staff react to the news here…
Derek Arnold
Color me shocked. As much sense as this move makes, I’m still surprised that John Harbaugh stepped up and made it (of course, the loyal John still offered Marty another position on staff).
For all the talk of what Marty did with Mike Vick in Philly, his reputation has always been as a pass-happy guy. You know he was going against his instincts the entire time the Ravens were morphing into the most dominant running attack since the 1980’s. It was clear that the majority of the credit for the offensive turnaround went to Greg Roman, who ran a very similar offense – successfully! – with Colin Kaepernick for years in San Francisco.
Marty is getting a whole lot of blame for the debacle against the Chargers, and that may not be completely fair (see this thread). Regardless, when you combine the untenable situation of trying to shove a square peg into a round hole (Marty in a run-first offense) with the egg his side of the ball laid in a playoff game, this move had to happen. Kudos to the decision-makers.
And here’s to the Roman Empire.
Brian McFarland
Great news!
Despite Harbaugh’s “legendary” loyalty to his guys, the reports out of LA this week about the lack of adjustment against the Chargers, made this move both inevitable and necessary. If Harbaugh had any arguments to keep Marty before that, they all went out the window with that report.
This move seems to be getting pretty universal approval based on Roman’s past work in SF and Buffalo. Hopefully a full offseason with Roman will allow Jackson and the offense to take the next step.
Ryan Jones
In Eric DeCosta’s first hour as GM the Ravens move on from Marty Mornhinweg. That’s a good way to endear yourself to the fan base. Roman has done a great job in his previous role with the Ravens and obviously with the Ravens all in on Lamar it makes a ton of sense.
With Wink and Roman in place the Ravens are in the best shape they’ve been in a long time from a coordinator standpoint.
Chad Racine
I think nearly every Ravens fan was expecting and hoping for this. There was even a change.org petition started for the firing of Marty Mornhinweg. When John Harbaugh made it a point to single out Greg Roman in his presser a few weeks ago, the writing was on the wall. If Roman wasn’t promoted to OC he would have likely found that role elsewhere. Great decision by Harbaugh and Eric Decosta. I’m sure they both agreed on this decision.
John Darcey
This is great news, though a long overdue move.
No one should really be surprised as it has seemed all year Harbs has given more credit to Roman than Marty with how this offense turned around.
In Eric DeCosta’s first day as GM, he is already making changes, I love it!
Better question is, what did Eric do first this morning, have his coffee or fire Marty?
Cole Jackson
I think many Ravens fans will rejoice to this news. However, I will caution them that more steps need to be done to fix this offense.
The offensive line still needs to be improved. The playmakers need to be upgraded. Lamar Jackson needs to continue to develop.
However, the play calling has been as issue for two years and this is an appropriate step in the right direction.
Nick Capecci
Same offense,different play caller. The true testament to the offense working is if they can create more easy passes, reads, and lanes for Lamar Jackson to make his throws. Great OCs are able to create opportunities for every player and make them better.
Roman has done that with Michael Crabtree in SF, and the likes of Charles Clay and Robert Woods in Buffalo. Hopefully he can get more out of the offensive line, but it needs some polishing and restocking.
If more talent is added and Roman doesn’t work out, it is only a matter of time before Ravens fans ask for his head.
Ken McKusick
The timing of this move is fascinating. With Eric DeCosta just assuming the reigns, it appears this may have something to do with him, but if Harbaugh and DeCosta are peers, this is really Harbaugh’s decision. Moving quickly during the offseason is important, but so is delineation of management responsibility. In any case, Harbaugh should be the one to announce this change and take the interview with Roman if it was his call.
In terms of Roman as an OC, I don’t have much to expect other than integration of the OL play with the overall offensive play should be at least as good as the last 2 seasons. The position group (TE) and scheme (run game) for which he has been responsible have been successful in 2017 and 2018 with very different personnel. In the case of the OL, the Ravens have built their current line primarily with draft picks in rounds 3+ and UDFAs (exception: Stanley) and most of their linemen have outperformed my expectations the last 2 seasons. That’s a good place to start.
