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Bills select Greg Roman as new offensive coordinator

ByBrandon C. Williams|
December 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi
December 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi

The Buffalo Bills named Greg Roman as the team’s offensive coordinator, bagging one of the league’s most sought-after coaching names in the process.

It helps to be a hot name, which is why the Buffalo Bills’ signing of Greg Roman as their new offensive coordinator is a bit of surprise, considering that Roman was atop many lists as either a coordinator or head coach.

Roman had spent the past four seasons as the offensive brain behind the San Francisco 49ers attack, as he helped them to three NFC title games and a Super Bowl loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Niners ranked 11th in scoring for three straight seasons before the unit imploded this past year, finishing 25th in scoring and 20th in total yardage. Still, Roman deserved much of the credit in developing Collin Kaepernick into a Pro Bowl quarterback, while helping running back Frank Gore eclipse the 10,000-yard rushing mark.

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A well-traveled genius, Roman was an assistant for two expansion teams, Carolina (1995-2001) and Houston (2002-05). After serving as an offensive line assistant in Baltimore for two years, Roman became a breakout name in the coaching ranks when he was the running game coordinator for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford from 2009-10. The Cardinal finished 20-6 in that span, as Roman helped running back Toby Gerhart (2009) and quarterback Andrew Luck (2010) become Heisman Trophy finalists.

Roman’s skills will be put to the test in Buffalo, where the Bills averaged a pedestrian 21.4 points per game last season, while also finishing 26th in yards per contest. The offense scored more than 24 points just three times and had seven contests in which they scored less than 17 points.

Buffalo was supposed to be an up-tempo attack under Doug Marrone, yet the Bills managed just 4.92 yards per play over the past two seasons, the third-worst mark in the NFL. The team had 39 percent of their drives that failed to either gain a first down or a touchdown.

Much of the offense’s fate will lie on whether Roman can turn out erratic quarterback E.J. Manuel, who was benched after four starts. The 2013 first round pick will likely get first dibs on winning back the starting role after Kyle Orton retired, but the Bills could look at adding a veteran (hello, Mark Sanchez) to compete for the role or look at drafting another youngster.

Running back C.J. Spiller is also a free agent and is unlikely to return, which would leave the Bills with Fred Jackson, who would be entering his 12th season, and backups Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon.

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