Harbaugh reshapes the Chargers' offense, seeking a fresh approach after parting ways with Roman and Devlin, aiming to unlock Herbert's full potential.
Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers woke up this morning and decided that blaming injuries and bad luck for the team losing yet another playoff game during Wild Card weekend was not going to make the team better.
Instead, the team is now looking for a new Offensive Coordinator after firing Greg Roman, as first reported by Tom Pelissero. This news isn't shocking, and it's something we predicted and called for after Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots.
They also fired OL Coach Mike Devlin, who was serving as the team's offensive line coach.
Roman has been a target of disgruntled Chargers fans since arriving, with many looking at the creativity (and success) of coaches like Ben Johnson and Liam Coen as proof that the league has passed by Roman.
Now, for the first time as an NFL head coach, Jim Harbaugh will try to find out if that's true:
It's still unclear who will end up joining Harbaugh's staff but it's fair to suggest that Justin Herbert could benefit from a fresh set of eyes and ideas calling the plays. Harbaugh all but said as much after Sunday's 16-3 drubbing at the hands of the New England Patriots.
Perhaps now the team can get to January with a plan for winning games beyond hoping that Justin Herbert and the Chargers' defense can carry the team to victory. That's certainly one thing that I would be looking for in a hire, someone with a bit more of a modern philosophy, but also someone who has managed to change and adapt their offensive strategies when faced with challenges like injuries along the offensive line.
One nice thing this does is maybe take some heat off of Justin Herbert, who was facing many questions about his inability to win games in the postseason (he's currently 0-3). As always, it is very obvious that Herbert has the raw God-given ability to be a top-flight NFL QB. The only question is whether or not the team can put him in a position where he can be effective long-term.
Greg Roman's career history is long and complicated, but there's a lot of good in there. When Jim Harbaugh went to college, Roman struggled to make it work with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills before posting back-to-back seasons as the No. 1 offense in football with Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Those Ravens teams often fell down in the playoffs, though, a combination of them becoming too one-dimensional and the accumulation of injuries to the offensive line, running backs and quarterback. Sound familiar?
It's fair to assume he'll get another shot somewhere, but he'll need to find a way to bridge the gap between performance and keeping the players healthy before his reputation completely sours around the league.