Bolts fire OC Roman, OL coach after playoff exit

LOS ANGELES — The Chargers have fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman and offensive line coach Mike Devlin, the team announced Tuesday.

Roman’s firing comes two days after the Chargers’ 16-3 playoff loss to the New England Patriots, a game in which quarterback Justin Herbert turned in one of the worst performances of his career.

Coach Jim Harbaugh opened the door to the move postgame, marking the first time he was noncommittal when asked if Roman was the right person to be calling plays for this team.

Through two postseason games under Roman, the Chargers scored just one touchdown, which came when the game was well out of reach in last year’s 32-12 loss to the Houston Texans.

Roman’s offense began the season looking like it would be among the league’s best. The Chargers’ passing offense was seamless, and the offensive line protected Herbert in a Week 1 win over Kansas City.

But the offense never returned to the heights of that opening game. Roman is known as one of the league’s most creative run-game architects, but his teams rely on having a physical, dominant offensive line. That foundation never materialized this season, in part due to injuries.

Left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending left patellar tendon injury in training camp, and Joe Alt played just six games, ending his season in week nine with a high right ankle injury.

The Chargers had 29 different offensive line combinations, which ranked third in the league. Their top free agent signing, right guard Mekhi Becton, struggled throughout the season. Becton ranked 46th as a guard in pass block win rate (91.2%) and 61st out of 62 eligible guards in run block win rate (63.4%).

Becton said Monday he was never comfortable playing in Roman’s scheme but declined to elaborate on specific issues.

“It was a lot of different things I’m not used to,” he said.

Harbaugh and Roman’s coaching relationship dates back over a decade, when Roman served as an associate head coach on Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford for two seasons (2009-10). Roman followed Harbaugh to the NFL in 2011, when Harbaugh became head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Under Roman, the 49ers ranked in the top five in the NFL in rushing yards per game for three straight seasons.

He was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Ravens from 2019 to 2022, under Jim’s brother, John Harbaugh. In Baltimore, Roman built one of the most prolific rushing offenses in NFL history, sparking quarterback Lamar Jackson to win the second unanimous MVP award in NFL history in 2019. That same season, Roman won the AP Assistant of the Year award.

But Roman’s tenure ended when he resigned after the 2022 season amid criticism from fans and players over a stagnant passing offense, concerns that resurfaced in Los Angeles.

Devlin worked in Baltimore for two seasons before joining the Chargers ahead of the 2024 season.