Report: Roman hired as Niners offensive coordinator

The revolving door stopped long enough for Greg Roman to hop aboard today.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Roman, Stanford’s associate head coach, will follow head coach Jim Harbaugh to San Francisco and serve as the Niners’ offensive coordinator.

Roman, 38, will become the 49ers’ ninth offensive coordinator since 2003 and the third in the past four months. Of course, there is reason to believe Roman might have a bit more staying power given his close and successful working relationship with Harbaugh, who is expected to be involved in play-calling.

San Francisco’s recent string of offensive coordinators didn’t enjoy such a connection the past six seasons while working under defensive-minded coaches Mike Singletary and Mike Nolan.

Roman teamed with Harbaugh and then-offensive coordinator David Shaw at Stanford this past season to guide an offense that scored a school-record 524 points, ranked ninth in the nation in points per game (40.3) and ranked 14th in total yards (472.5). Shaw, named Stanford’s new head coach on Thursday, oversaw the passing game and Roman, the run-game coordinator, was in charge of a ground attack that ranked 17th in the nation (213.8).

Roman served 13 years as NFL assistant prior to joining Harbaugh at Stanford in 2009. He has never been an offensive coordinator at any level, but his promotion isn’t surprising given his reputation as a bright offensive mind. Roman had recently attracted interest from Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh for their head-coach openings.

Two years after graduating from John Carroll (Ohio) University, Roman broke into the NFL in 1995 with the Carolina Panthers and served with the franchise as an assistant for seven seasons, the last three under former Niners coach George Seifert.

Roman was the tight ends coach with the Texans from 2002-03 and worked with Houston’s quarterbacks, including David Carr, from 2004-05. Carr set career-highs in passing yards (3,531), completion percentage (61.2), TDs (16) and passer rating (83.5) while working with Roman in 2004. Carr is the only Niners quarterback under contract for the 2011 season.

Roman was the assistant offensive line coach with the Ravens from 2006-07, but didn’t work under Harbaugh’s brother, John, who became Baltimore’s head coach the following season.

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