The Los Angeles Chargers fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman after two seasons, the team announced Tuesday. The team also parted ways with offensive line coach Mike Devlin.
The dismissals come after the Chargers offense’s listless performance in a 16-3 playoff loss to the New England Patriots. Over two playoff appearances, Roman’s offenses produced just 15 points.
Coach Jim Harbaugh has reset the culture and expectations with the Chargers. Now the organization will be looking for a more modern play caller and schemer to elevate quarterback Justin Herbert, who has played two of the worst games of his career in the two early playoff exits. The Chargers lost to the Houston Texans, 32-12, in last year’s postseason.
Harbaugh hinted at this firing in Foxboro, Mass., after the Chargers’ loss to the Patriots. When asked if Roman should continue as the Chargers’ offensive play caller, Harbaugh said, “Right now, I don’t have the answers. … We’re going to look at that, and everything.”
Harbaugh and Roman’s history dates back to 2001, when Roman was an assistant offensive line coach and Harbaugh was a reserve quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. They reconnected when Harbaugh hired Roman to his Stanford staff in 2009. Roman was then Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator for four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to ’14.
Roman was a logical selection as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator when Harbaugh took over as coach in 2024 and wanted to establish his brand of physical football. Roman is intimately familiar with that philosophy and has built elite run games at various stops around the NFL, including while calling plays for John Harbaugh with the Ravens from 2019 to ’22.
The run game that was promised never materialized in Los Angeles. The Chargers ranked 22nd in rushing success rate and 19th in expected points added per rush over Roman’s tenure, according to TruMedia. There were encouraging moments, but never the sustained success that would warrant Roman keeping his job after the calamity at New England.
In 2025, some of the inconsistencies were related to injuries. The Chargers used 25 different five-man offensive line combinations. They lost tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt — two of the Chargers’ five best players — to season-ending injuries. Rookie running back Omarion Hampton, a first-round pick, missed six games with a fractured ankle. He suffered a separate ankle injury in Week 17 and was limited to just two snaps against the Patriots. Running back Najee Harris, whom the Chargers signed in free agency, tore his Achilles tendon in Week 3.
While Roman did well to navigate these injuries, his admirable regular-season effort was not enough to overcome 3 points in a high-visibility playoff game.
In the end, the run game was not good enough, and the passing-game issues that have plagued Roman throughout his career — primarily a lack of dynamism in route concepts — persisted, especially Sunday night against the Patriots.
One playoff disappointment was palatable. Two proved to be too much for Harbaugh and the rest of the Chargers’ higher-ups.
The next hire will be focused primarily on one thing: How do the Chargers get Herbert to play at his best in the postseason?