Getty ImagesThe Buccaneers were not able to get an interview with Mike Mularkey, but they still need an offensive coordinator and the quest to find one reportedly continued with Greg Roman.
Roman spent the last four years running the offense for Jim Harbaugh with the 49ers and he’ll get a chance to interview with Harbaugh’s successor, but his return to the team is considered unlikely even before Alex Marvez of FOX Sports reported that Roman interviewed with the Buccaneers last Friday. Roman built a strong running game with the 49ers, but the passing attack never came around and a second-straight finish near the bottom of the league in that area helped sink the 49ers in 2014.
The struggles with the passing game led to a lot of criticism of Roman, including a barb on Twitter from the daughter of 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke that summed up the dropping confidence in Roman and the offense this season.
The Bucs are looking in several directions as they try to find a coordinator after hiring Jeff Tedford before the season and never playing any games with him after a heart issue knocked Tedford out for the entire season.
Is it just me or are the Bucs moving at a glacial pace on this OC hiring? They’ve known for half a season this is a position they will need to fill so you’d think with that kind of head start they could fast-track the process at this point.
Please take him, Bucs. He’s the best coordinator ever!!! He calls such great plays and utilizes his players so well!! Please take him!!
Signed,
Niners fan
Just hire him. Probably a good fit for Mariota.
So now the daughter of a GM is being taken seriously? Kaepernick is good qb with an inadequate arm
Take him. Please. I beg you.
Signed,
Niner fan
Because, who wouldn’t want they guy who developed Colin Kaepernick into the elite, intellectual QB that he is today to coach their team?
Oh wait…
bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! how any NFL team thinks this guy should be coordinating anything other than pre-gamemeals is beyond me. Then again,it’s Tampa…
of course Lovie would think this is a good hire…never change Lovie…and I know you won’t haha
how hard is it for people to realize that no matter who he hires at the end of the day it will be a get off the bus running lovie smith offense? I guess it is Jay Cutler’s fault he had another 1 and done oc in Tampa right? really it is not that hard to look at his time with the bears and his 1 year with the bucs to figure out what the problem is with his teams offenses and for those of you still refusing to see what it is let me be the one to tell yet again it’s LOVIE SMITH! the man has no clue about offense and who would want to work with a guy who will not let you do the job you were hired for. Mariota is to nice a guy to be stuck on a team like the bucs that I guarantee you will not build an offense around his skills.
LOL Bucs… another decent 1st round pick coming in 2016…
Please take him. I’m begging you. He’s a really nice guy…………
-Another Niners fan
If I had a team in the AFC south, I’d pay this guys salary for Tampa Bay to make sure they hire him.
He’s a master of the run up the middle for one yard on first down offense. He cost the Niners championships with his neanderthal play calling. He tried to force his offense on a quarterback that is not a drop back QB. The read option offense proved successful with Kap and they dumped it.
I’d hire him…as a ball boy
look at the previous offensive coordinators Lovie has had, have any of them gone on to bigger and better things?
letting Lovie pick the next one is pure genius
This is the next Joe Gibbs. Usung and unheralded assistant, but once somebody gives him a shot to be a Headcoach he’s going to be wildly succesful. He’s not a good passing game Coordinstor, but with his innovative running game he doesn’t have to be he could hire someone to diagram passing plays.
Best news so far for 49ers fans this off-season.
This would be a perfect new offensive for the bucs grab mariota and Greg can work with him similar to colin we have plenty of running backs and he calls good plays it will be that up tempo offense we have all been searching for. I would even like to see a offense like Georgia tech. And pick up some offensive lineman in the draft we will be good to go.
yes icefietz
in a league where all of the rules favor passing you want to run a Georgia Tech style of offense…..you can’t make this stuff up haha
This hire would favor Mariota’s skill set, being similar to Kaepernick’s, except Mariota is the better player.
49ers had talent at wide receiver with Boldin and Crabtree, but I would expect a huge improvement with having Evans and Jackson to work with instead.
Why are they ignoring the availability of Charlie Weis? He is the best available offensive coordinator by a mile.
Roman may be as bad as all the Niners fans say… or maybe not… or maybe he’s even worse.
The thing is, when you run offense under an ultra-alpha HC like Jim Harbaugh – who made his bones with offense – I have to imagine there’s only so far your influence goes toward the final outcome. Separating out how much of Greg’s success/failure is owned by him and how much is just him carrying out Harbs’ orders, makes it all the more tricky to get an accurate read on him.
Do you have talented players? Like really talented? We’re talking all-pro level skill sets at the RB, QB, TE, and WR positions? Would you like to see literally all of that talented squandered on poor play calling and an a refusal to patiently develop players?
THEN DO WE HAVE THE OC FOR YOU!
I think the Bucs are looking to see which QB declares for the draft and then pick the OC that best fits. That’s why they are moving slow and interviewing everyone.
It’s possible either Mariota and/or Winston don’t declare.
After all he’s called the mad scientist…that’s why the bucs should take him..
Signed
Yet another niner fan
As a Bucs fan, Niners fan, and true fan of the NFL, I beg the Bucs not to hire this guy. He proved just why not this past season, with an abysmal offense despite having some of the best weapons in the league. He often abandoned the running game when he shouldnt have, setting up Kaepernick* for failure. I also beg that we do not take the Falcon’s ex coordinator as well. His resume is not very assuring; he coordinated the Jaguars for crying out loud.
Id say the best bet is Trestman. He worked wonders with McCown in Chicago, known to be a great QB coach, and has the recommendation of McCown; who I may not trust on the field but have full confidence off the field. Allowing Trestman to draft the QB of his liking could bring Tampa back to relevancy, which is all us fans can ask for right now.
The mere fact that we’re even bothering to interview him at all says everything we need to know about Lovie’s “year off” and how productive it was.
At this point I’m pretty sure a hobo could wander into Lovie’s office and tell him “I run a hyper-conservative offense with no imagination and never take risks” and would be hired on the spot.